Myanmar in 2012: mhyaw ta lin lin or Great Expectations

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After years of being held up as one of the outposts of tyranny and the only pariah government in Southeast Asia, by the end of 2012 Myanmar was being toasted as a newly reformed champion of political opening and democratic transition, a model for persisting “tyrannies” to emulate. What a difference a year makes. The 2008 Constitution of the country is now seen as a worthy document, but in need of amending,¹ and the government of President Thein Sein, formed after the 2010 general elections, which were roundly condemned as a fraud and sham by Western nations, is now heralded as the friend of everyone and the enemy of none. Western political leaders, from British Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs, William Hague, at the start of the year, to U.S. President Barack Obama near the end, queued to have their pictures taken with President Thein Sein, with a side trip for another photo opportunity with Nobel Prize winner, Daw Aung San Suu Kyi, the leader of the National League for Democracy (NLD). She, along with more than forty other NLD members, was elected to the lower house of parliament, the Pyithu Hluttaw, following a by-election held on April Fools’ Day of the year under review.²

And yet, for all of the unexpected goodwill and bonhomie, including the first visit by a head of state of Myanmar to the United Nations and the United States since 1966, much still seemed the same in Myanmar as before. While the media attention has gone from negative to largely positive, and the United States, Australia, and the European Union have suspended almost all of the economic sanctions which had been applied, in some cases for more than two decades, little Western trade and investment has yet to result. There is much talk, and some would say too much talk, as Western non-governmental organizations (NGOs) and would-be fund managers and foreign investment consultants, held seminars and forums on the new Myanmar in the new world, and lessons to be learnt from studying the experience of others or fanciful academic theories. Myanmar civil servants were thus experts on the rhetoric of decentralization, open governance, federalism, women’s role in development, banking sector reform, international human rights law and reconciliation processes, political party development, and ethical investment. But as occurred during the last period of party government, rhetoric does not change reality and old practices are deeply imbedded in institutional practices going back decades.

Many of the seminar organizers were well intended but little aware of the historical and political context of the issues they were discussing. The desire to treat Myanmar as a tabula rasa seemed overwhelming. It got to the point that civil servants complained of having no time to do their job as they are attending seminars of little value to them in their day-to-day responsibilities. If the minister wanted to keep the foreigners happy and concede their requests for seminars, they had to pay the price in time and patience. While the continual flow through of foreign dignitaries boosted the morale and legitimacy of the government and Naypyitaw hoteliers enjoyed a mini-boom, little action, and less money, has actually materialized to change the lives of the average Myanmar citizen. People in Naypyitaw and Yangon began to complain of the appearance of many foreign “carpetbaggers”, but as they were rarely seen outside of airport lounges and hotels, most of the population remained immune to their intentions. Still, it made a difference in as much as fewer seminars are now held abroad to propose solutions to Myanmar’s many ills.

Political Liberalization Continues

One of the reforms introduced during the year was the near abolition of pre-censorship of the press and Internet. Freedom of speech is now acknowledged as a human right in practice as well as in principle. While the Press Scrutiny Board had since the latter part of the last decade begun relaxing its rules which, since the 1960s, had limited what Myanmar newspapers...