Comments on: Interview with Justin Wintle

By: Moe Aung

Moe Aung — Sun, 15 Jun 2008 22:41:08 +0000

I’m not surprised people have begun to question ASSK’s political acumen in recent times. Admirable as she is for her resolute moral stand and sacrifice, deservedly a true icon of our decadant, troubled and violent world, I was sadly taken aback in 1988 by her political naivety and my heart sank when she refused outright to work with U Nu. She had already failed to split the army and pull off a Cori Aquino, after so many ordinary Burmese had laid down their lives.

I have to agree with Dominic Faulder too that she certainly is no Aung San who had no qualms about the right to take up arms aginst the oppressor. Her political impotence appears to be rooted in a Western liberal democratic commitment to non-violence despite references to Gandhi. Mandela on the other hand was a leader of an armed national liberation movement though sainted as she is now for a very protracted incarceration. Besides she is a mere pawn these days in a game that the generals play so well.

Burmese opposition is fractious and the expression “all chiefs and no indians” seems to have been invented for the Burmese. And yes, any criticism levelled at ASSK , not only by the likes of Taylor and Aung Thwin, known junta apologists, offends so many that it is un-PC and risks being tarred with the same brush. Like it or not by the lady, the personality cult is alive and well in Burma.

Justin Wintle is right in concluding that perhaps her kind of politics just doesn’t work in this scenario. Most Burmese above all realise that having been on the receiving end for so long and having gone through so much talk and gesture politics. Just how do you reconcile with someone holding a gun to your head? If Burma were flush with AK47s as in Afghanistan or Iraq, how do you think things would begin to shape up? Fear of chaos and anarchy and civil war exercises the urban middle class liberal democratic mindset so much, the reality of this happening in Burma for six decades seems to have escaped them.

By: jonfernquest

jonfernquest — Tue, 01 Apr 2008 11:46:32 +0000

“Laos …One could be forgiven for hardly noticing its existence, despite its peoples’ very central historical involvement in the shaping of mainland Southeast Asia.”

I agree, but this also applies to every Tai statelet arrayed across the northern frontier of Southeast Asia from Assam to Yunnan to Annam.

By: Mandy Sadan

Mandy Sadan — Tue, 01 Apr 2008 11:23:54 +0000

Methinks it is not the only place where the cherry is being quaffed, Grasshopper! Cheers!!

By: Grasshopper

Grasshopper — Mon, 31 Mar 2008 12:53:15 +0000

I imagine this interview took place at the boat house over quaffs of cherry and that it actually had to be translated from Latin whilst removing all the references to investigating foolhardy Cambridge Soviet spies in Vietnam because they’re still working for MI6 and are New Mandala readers.

Phu Mak Sop Tham: How could Vientiane be further romanticised/orientalised beyond Vespa scooters and canary yellow humidity? There would just be a giant “Billets a Vang Vieng/Tickets to Vang Vieng” sign near the bus depot and lots of pollution left by 15-30 year olds who really just wanted fish and chips, or an authentic pre planned adventuring experience. Oh wait…

Mandy Sadan: Haha, post-feminism. It’s not patriarchy!

By: Mandy Sadan

Mandy Sadan — Mon, 31 Mar 2008 05:59:11 +0000

‘As for her poor degree performance, I subscribe to no particular ‘theory’. Maybe she wasn’t yet really up to it. Or maybe it was just her time of month. I remember well some Oxford undergraduettes [WHAT?] putting themselves on the pill a couple of months before the exams just to make sure they weren’t caught out that way. Managing the female calendar, it was called. But Suu Kyi would never have done that.’

Errrrr……??!! Laugh – cry? Heads – tails.

By: PhuMakSopTham

PhuMakSopTham — Mon, 31 Mar 2008 02:05:06 +0000

Laos has always been a slight blur in the peripheral vision of anyone seriously interested in writing about Southeast Asia (with a very few exceptions) . One could be forgiven for hardly noticing its existence, despite its peoples’ very central historical involvement in the shaping of mainland Southeast Asia. While perhaps few can do it well, it is much easier to write on those people and places in the region that are already in the global spotlight. I wonder how different Laos would be today if investigative authors like Justin did more than simply ‘pass through’ and write Vientiane off?