Going “inside”…the border crossing bridge between Tachileik, Myanmar and Mai Sai, Thailand.
Living within one hour’s walk from the Thai border, my students (Karenni refugees from Burma) refer to their homeland simply as “inside.” The word conjures images of a mysterious location, a mystical place with a name that is no less fluid than its borders. Burma and Myanmar are merely key words they use so that I may pin it on a map. But “inside” is where they were born; where they escaped from; and, where they’ve left their ethnic roots .
But I apologize- according to most sources, I should have said “Karenni refugees from Myanmar.” Or, more formally, The Socialist Republic of the Union of.
But both monikers make the news, with professional unsureness. So what should we call this place, with proper respect for the people who live there?
Burma is an English word taken from the Bamar people, who make up a majority of the population. It thus, in its original use, referred to those areas – inside current borders – that fell under British colonial rule from the 1820s-1940s and were predominately Bamar-inhabited.
While Burma remained the country’s name during the post-WWII transition period, the conflict of various political and ethnic efforts ended (with a military coup) before official discussion of any other name could be considered. If you ask the residents of the six main ethnic states (Rakhine, Kachin, Shan, Karen, Karenni, and Mon) – such as my students – they would first and foremost say they come from that particular State. Myanmar, to them is simply a few inconvenient lines on an atlas that surround their own, culturally unique, country.
Daw Aung San Suu Kyi was recently asked by the government to follow the constitution, which her National League for Democracy must uphold as representatives in congress – and call it TSROTUO Myanmar. But the Daw has used Burma in several speeches in Thailand and Europe, raising the question again….
What should we call the country? Her Majesty’s original title, the government’s 80′s creation, or something else, entirely?
Kelli Mutchler left a small, Midwest American town to prove that Yanks can, and do, chose alternative lifestyles. On the road for five years now, Kelli has tried news reporting and waitressing, bungy jumping and English teaching. Currently working with Burmese women refugees in Thailand, she hopes to pursue a MA in Global Development. Opportunities and scenes for international travel are encouraged on her blog, www.toomutchforwords.com.
