Jan 5, 2008

[World Affairs] What? Burma?

Flickr: * Cishore ♥ - Help Burma
Help Burma
by * Cishore ♥.


You remember Burma right? There was this big hullabaloo back in October about Free Burma in terms of the blogosphere and a lot of people participated in the international blogging action day but then now what? It seems for the most part, they've dropped back under the radar and people are back to talking about the current flavor-of-the-month: Pakistan.

So I got curious and was looking for new on Burma when I came across the weird fact that January 4 was actually Burma's 60th anniversary of their Independence from Britain - somewhat ironic given the current state of affairs in the country.

What's ironic is that the entire day was celebrated by the military government without making major mention of Aung San, father of imprisoned activist Aung San Suu Kyi, despite his significant contributions to the Burmese independence movement.

It's like celebration the 4th of July without mentioning Washington or celebrating our independence day without mentioning the likes of Rizal. Cold, ain't it? Naturally it was done just to avoid presenting Aung San Suu Kyi in any kind of positive light even if by way of her father.

So, things have not changed much in Burma / Myanmar and I doubt they're going to change that much anything soon. For now, the world's attention is enraptured by the current political crisis in Pakistan and I'm curious as to what it will take to revive international interest in a democratic Burma.

Where's the follow through, people?

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