N20 Modern Shan Costume

One day in last week I went to a novitiation ceremony. We got there a little late, about 11.30, while the ceremony will end at 12.00, because I had to wait for my daughter and her two girls came from Yangon by air, but still we got there on time.

Later someone said that if I had come earlier I would have seen all kinds of Shan dresses (female) with different fashions and prices. Even then I didn’t miss seeing young and old wearing Shan dresses.

During these recent years Shan dresses have become much popular among the people of Shan States. Many girls and women use the Shan dresses for daily wear. The materials for the dresses are cotton which woven locally, especially in Inlay and also come from the Northern Shan States. When there are ceremonies they wear more expensive ones which made of woven silk in Inlay and those which come from Thailand and even Singapore.

The Shan dress comprises of two pieces. There is a jacket for the upper part of the body and this jacket varies according to the designer’s creation in this modern days. The length of the jacket is a little lower under the waist and it is adorn with handmade buttons and sequins and beads. For the lower part, the Shan and Myanmar women wear a skirt like Longyi alike. But Shan Longyis are simple with colorful stripe design for the Southern Shan but the Northern Shan wears a vertical stripe design. The stripes are only in the middle part. For the upper and lower part, a plain fabric of the same colour is used.

The Shan costume also consisted of a headdress or turban which varies according to the races. Thus the Southern Shan, the Northern Shan, the Khun at the Eastern Shan State and the Tai Khamti or Khamti Shan who lives in the Kachin State wear different kinds of turbans. However, headdresses are worn only on big occasions.

The Shan men’s dresses are also two pieces. The jacket is like the Chinese jacket. It is not unusual because the Shan people originally come from Yunnan, China. The Shan trousers are a loose one which has to be folded left-wise and right-wise and worn with a belt. A long cloth of bright colours is wound around the head with a short end left upright on one side of the head serves as a turban.

In my eyes the Shan dress is pretty, and when Shan people wearing their national dresses come together it forms a grand sight.

N25 : Sentimental Value

This is an article written by Maung Tha Cho and I only do the translating.

While in Mohnyin I met a Kachin girl who had been an exchange student and stayed with a Japanese family in Japan. This girl related her experiences to him including one about plucking a rose that was blooming in the garden. When the hosts knew about it they asked her why she had done it and she replied that because she admired it much. They said that if she admired it she should just leave it bloom on its plant only. The girl asked the writer if we are lacking in sentimental values of adoring and cherishing natural beauties.

The writer went on to write about the sentiments of the Japanese people , from their love of the cherry festivals to their love of their land, their mountain, their forests, their rivers, their streams which led them to love and cherish their environments dearly. And that we should not take them lightly but look through them deeply so as to see that these sentiments are the things that make Japan what it is today. Now, the writer takes us to our own sentimental value. People may not know about sentimental value although they know quite well about monetary values. Even a child knows that it can exchange a snack for some money. So with money everything can be purchased Land, properties, cars, household goods, clothing, and food and so on. Things purchased with money can be used and all of them have used values. For example, we can build a house on the land, use the car for going places, food for eating etc.

But…..as for sentimental value we cannot use it anywhere. It can not be cooked, boiled, roasted and eat. It can not use it for living, or for going places. Say, Ngapali beaches with the blue sea, the swaying palm trees, the flawless white sandy beaches, the clear crystal air, the breathtaking panoramic view and star spangled nights; we say these are our natural beauties and so with unknown sentimental values we are pushed to go there. 

So is the majestic Mount Popa, the world most famous Inlay lake, the classic Bagan, , the much disputed Maykha and Malikha Myitsone, the misty Shan Hills, the highest snow covered mountains of the north...all of these natural beauties cannot be used for our physical needs. 

But the sentimental value for our mountains and valleys, streams and rivers, beaches and lakes, forests and wildernesses, fields and meadows, are far greater and more important than the purchasing value of money. 

As said above, the Mount Popa cannot be fried and eaten, Ngapali beach can not be cooked to eat. So are the pretty cherry flowers. But as cherries blossom,all those who love and cherish cherries come out to be under the cherry trees. 

So I who love and cherish the things that can not be fried , can not be cooked , can not be grilled and eaten, still want to keep them in my heart along with water covered fields, complete with a farmer’s shed in the middle of it, a string of hyacinth plants floating in a stream, tanaung and tamar of Anyarmyay, The Ananda and Shwezigon of Pagan, the Shwedagon of Yangon, the misty Shan Hills, the Arakan Yomas, the Ayarwaddy, Thanlwin, and Sittaung and all of these……They will always be values … values formed in my heart.

N 23 So as Not to get Repentance

The following 10 things are sayings from 2500 years ago, said the late author Nandar Thein Zan. He said that he is thinking if these sayings of long long ago are still useful for people and are they still right as time has changed too much. So he would like you to read and decide for yourselves if they are or they are not.

1)      If we cannot get what should be got, we will get worried and saying I, when young, did not work to earn, to accumulate, and get worried when old. 

2)      Those who don't have a good vocational training will have a hard livelihood. So when old will have worries thinking I didn't learn and get a good training when I was young.

3)      I, when young, had done crooked deeds, had slandered, had said coarse things. So, I have to worry about those deeds when grow old.

4)      I, when young, had done the misdeed of killing, had done despicable things, didn't have pity on creatures. So, we saying, when old have to worry.

5)      when young and when there were other free women, had committed adultery. So, saying when old have to worry.

6)      I when young had enough food, enough wealth and I had not done alms giving. So, saying we have to worry when old.

7)      I when young had enough wealth, enough strength to look after, to feed old parents and yet hadn't done it. Then we have to worry when old.

8)      My father had admonished me primarily as a teacher, had given me all things and care for me. I had not feed him and taken care of him in return. So, thinking we have to worry when old.

9)      I, in younger days, had not take refuge in priests and saints who had sila, and knowledge. So saying we have to worry in later years.

10)  I in olden days had not taken the practice that should be revered, to stay calm and live frugally. So saying we have to worry when old.

Those 10 things, if we have not done will be the things we will have to repent the most in later years.

N22 Electricity Starving People

I usually get up early in the morning. It has become a habit to sleep early and get up early. As everyone is advising everyone to take exercises or at least do some walking in this age of diseases and cancer I also have developed a habit of taking half an hour of walking.

This morning the light had gone out at 5:00 am. It is still dark at this time, so when I start to walk I can hear the sound of generator engines start all around me.

Electricity is distributed according to quota system again. The Government blamed the KIA (KACHIN insurgents) for blasting 4 power posts, but they also confessed that the electricity produced is not adequate for the need of the country. Anyway it is better now that the government let the people know about true conditions of the country, unlike the military Government which did not take into account the need and desire of people but did as they wished. Most are for the benefit of themselves and their cronies.

I am thinking if they feel guilty or not for what they have done when there are a lot of criticizing about them as now. If they feel so they should not continue to meddle in the new government's affair which will be better because there are opposition parties and people who will talk and give good advice.

Firstly it is very important for the new government; to try and get enough electricity for domestic and industrial use because if there is not enough electricity industrial works cannot be done, even if the people can live primitive lives. Even then the lives of city dwellers will be difficult.

But when we come to think there are a lot of works to be done for the country to become better. And the hardest thing to do will be to fight corruption. I think corruption will not come to end with the president's urging and pleas only, but strict laws and orders should also be imposed and actions to be taken accordingly.

At the present we who are living in the city will have to stay in the dark or get a little light from LED lamps (thanks to China) or to endure the noise of roaring generators.

N21 Future of Shan States

My hometown is Kunhing. It is a small town on the Taunggyi –Kengtung road. A big stream which should be called a river by the name of Nampang flows through it. Kunhing Township is bordered by the Salween River from Merng Paing Township.

The distance from Taunggyi is 140 miles, but because the road is always nearly bad it takes a van about 6 or 7 hours to reach Kunhing.

The main occupation of the people is cultivation and the main crop is rice. Rice is produced in 2 ways, by irrigation method on flat lands or fields, and by taung-ya or slash and burn method on hilly places.

There is not much way to earn money, so some people grow opium when and where they can. But the crop is not always good, and it is only the merchants who prosper from this and not the grower who doesn’t get a good price for the opium.

But opium growing has a backlash on the people of Shan States (also in the other parts of Myanmar). What I want to say here is how the people, mostly young in our township and the adjoining townships like Mongshu are using drugs, from opium to Amphetamine. These drugs are produced from opium alike.

The people who use drugs are mostly young people, but there are also from other ages and different professions, and even lawkeepers such as policemen and the army.

The pill or Yama as it is called can be easily bought in Kunhing at 1000 kyats per pill and so many youths are using it and getting addicted to it. But the price they have to pay is huge. Only recently I heard that one young man hanged himself to death. Sometimes they endanger other people especially parents from whom they cannot squeeze enough money to buy drugs. Many died from overuse of drugs.

 Youths are valuable resources for the country. Our country is lagging far behind our counterpart Asean countries in every way. We have much to do to get our country abreast with other countries. So it is a pity that youths who should be working hard for the country are spoiling themselves with drugs.

On the other hand the government should take more responsibility concerning the production, merchandising and using of drugs. If I look at my hometown I come to think that the government is just washing its hands clear of this thing. But I will just let the blame fall on corruption only. It will be better if the State doesn’t turn a blind eye on this issue and take more actions about it, the future of our State, our country will become brighter.

N17 Travelling to Taunggyi Part 2

•   Motor Cycles

Motor cycles are vehicles used mostly in underdeveloped countries, where people are poor and public transports are not effective.

Myanmar is a poor country where motor cars are very expensive only until recently when the prices dropped, but even then still expensive than other Asean countries.

So only a few people own cars and about 4 or 5 years earlier many people cannot even buy a motor cycle. But during these years China produce many motor cycles and the price has gone so low that many people in our country now can buy them.

The government, due to they don’t have an efficient way of transportation for the people keep a blind eye on this issue and doesn’t care to have the motor cycles registered. So these motor cycles doesn’t have licenses.

Now people in the rural areas are using motor cycles to go places and they also carry people and things by charging an amount of money. This may be called motor cycle taxi. Although it is dangerous it is still efficient for the people who use them.

The roads in our country do not have a special lane for motor cycles or bicycles. So these vehicles use the car road. The bad thing about motor cycles is that they are a big nuisance for the cars. The drivers of the cars have to take much care when they drive past towns and villages.

Every towns and villages have a lot of motor cycles now. Our native town Taunggyi is also one of them.

Although Taunggyi has a good reputation that it is a clean town, it is not very good to live in now. It has grown so big and crowded and dusty with many houses and motor cycles and also cars.

I think I cannot live long enough to see our town having a good public transportation with reduced number of motor cycles.

N 16 Travelling to Taunggyi 2012

While travelling to Taunggyi this year I noted three remarkable things.

• ²  Deforestation
• ²  The situation of the road
• ²  Motor cycles

I have written and posted about deforestation in my facebook N 6 and will not write about it again.

As for the situation of the road it is good as far as Meikhtila junction because it is the Yangon-Mandalay Highway.But instead of tar road it is only cement road, which causes bursting of tyres and are prone to accidents.

The Meikhtila Taunggyi road is 116 miles long and some parts of it go over hills and mountains. Whenever I cross this road I always see repairing and maintaining works but they are never completed. This year the road is repaired well past Yinmarbin and Pyin-nyaung. We saw many cement factories in Pyin-nyaung and so I thought maybe they are repairing the road to transport the raw materials and cement to and from the factories. But anyway it is good if the road is completed.

But after Pyin-nyaung we encountered many unfinished, rough parts which are still under repair. So it is still worth the name I give it, which is ‘The never finished Meikhtila Taunggyi Road’.

We consoled ourselves that when we come back after one or two months it may be finished. But when the rain comes some parts of the newly constructed road will be washed away, and holes and rough surface will appear again, so that repairing will become an unending work.

I wish that the road we from the Southern and also the Eastern Shan States are using is completed with no need to repair anymore.

If the government lacks the technique to build good roads by itself why don’t they seek help from anywhere who knows how to do it well. Only then there will be an ending to the repairing cycle and thus save the country’s budget used on repairing roads.

N15 Wrong Belief

I have read in a journal about a research done in our country, that the people who marry at the youngest age are the Eastern Shans. Whether it is true or not I don’t know, but there is one thing concerning the Eastern Shans which is always on my mind and I want to tell people that their belief is not right and that it should be eliminated.

I have heard that in the eastern Shan States people believe that it is a noble thing to pay their gratitude towards their parents by selling their bodies. I don’t think that people who have some education will think like that, but only those who are ignorant, and do not have proper teachings will have that belief. So they are glad when a daughter is born into the family. The daughter, when she is about 14 or 15 will go into the trade. It is easy for them because the market is not far away. They have only to cross the border into Thailand and also into China.

The girls work as prostitutes and send home money which their parents use to build nice houses and buy cars and live well. Some parents use the money freely and do not even save.

But the daughter after getting H. I. V. comes home to die. I heard that they even spread the virus among the young men before they die. So young girls and young women are scarce in these areas.

I think we can say that this practice has spread to other parts of the Shan States, partly because there are not much way to earn livings and partly because the land is not peaceful. So, men and women alike are leaving for Thailand. Among these how many percent has gone into the skin trade (either by having been victims of trafficking or by their own decisions) we cannot know.

It is a pity that Shan girls have to die in this way. I presume that it is like this because the place is remote and education cannot reach these areas. So the officials should pay a special attention to this case and prevent the custom and belief before it is too late.

N 14 Warnings on Highways, Australia

Ø  Only sleep cure fatigue

Ø  A micro sleep can kill in seconds

Ø  Don't risk it......police cameras ahead

Ø  Fatique can be fatal

Ø  If you speed you're gone

Ø  Open your eyes fatigue kills

Ø  Power nap area

Ø  Rest if sleepy

Ø  Safer speeds save life

Ø  Slowing down won't kill you

Ø  Sour eyes ....power nap now

Ø  Stay awake .....take a break

Ø  Stop......revive .......survive

Ø  Take a break .....be roadsafe

Ø  Trouble concentrating.....power nap

Ø  Weary ......power nap now

Ø  Yawning......take a power nap

These are signposts beside the highways in Australia. They show that the government care for the lives of citizens. Yet we still see highway accidents nearly daily on TV.

Anyway nothing can guarantee people's lives. Sometimes it is their own mistake and sometimes.

……shall we say it is their own kamma........

N12 Birds of not the same feather

Once day while going around town in a car, I noticed a tourist taking photos of a black crow. I thought how strange a black crow, so as to photograph it. Crows are common in our country and they all are black. 

But as I ponder more deeply I came to realize that a black crow is unusual for them, as a black and white mix crow is to us. I am the same as that tourist as I also had taken photos of a mixed coloured crow I had seen in Melbourne, Australia.

N 11 Tuol Sleng (Part 2)

The next morning when we were in a speed boat bound for Siem Riep along the Tonle Sap Lake I heard some talking about last. Many had sleepless night thinking about Tuol Slang. Even Sayama Nang On whom I think is afraid of nothing had a nightmare they said. She let out a loud cry and her roommate Nang Hom had to call her name   “Pi Nang On …. Pi Nang On “and woke her up. I assumed that the impact of Tuol Slang is big on all of us.

It is fortunate when Sokhin asked me after the tour if we want to go to another killing fields a little far from the city , and I replied  “No….we have had enough of it. “

The human races have seen many cruelties done to one by another. They had been because of hate or lust for power or wealth. There were the Holocaust, the atom bombs dropped over Hiroshima and Nagasaki, the genocide committed by the Hutus upon the Tutsis in Africa to mention a few.

It will be best if man can have metta, karuna, mudita, upeka on one another as taught by the Lord Buddha or one nation to another and live together harmoniousl.

Only then the world will be at peace.