Burma Taking a Big First Step Culturally

     In Burma, the film industry is nothing to write home about. However, a couple of film makers are looking to make history in this country which has taken little part in celebrating its national identity through mainstream media. Military leadership has in the past put a cap on any portrayals of the life and story of one of Burma's greatest military leaders, General Aung San. Aung San, a revolutionary leader who created the first standing Burmese army, played a vital role in gaining Burma's independence from Britain. He was assassinated about 6 months before Burma officially gained its independence in 1948. To this day, Aung San's name is still well known and respected among Burmese people, but successive military regimes have literally attempted to erase all traces of his legacy. For Americans this would be equivalent to our government disallowing any portrayal of a figure like George Washington in film.




     Finally, however, this "taboo" is being ignored and not one, but two film producers are working to beat one another to the punch in delivering the first portrayal of Aung San in a movie. The effects of this action are far more than just social or cultural. The timing of these films come just before the fall parliamentary elections in which candidate Aung San Suu Kyi, the daughter of the late general, will be running in opposition of current leader Thein Sein. The director of the movie titled The Last Day of Aung San, Myay Ni Thit Sar, says that he believes his film will "help bring democracy to Burma." The director casted 35 year old barber Kyauk Khae, who has zero acting experience, simply because he looks so similar to Aung San.




     The other film, which has no titled as of this point, is supposedly being over seen by Aung San Suu Kyi herself, which either points to the political implications this film may have for upcoming elections, or is simply a daughter hoping to see that her father's legacy is well remembered and honored.




http://www.usatoday.com/story/news/world/2015/01/31/burma-movie-aung-san/21396503/

Burma Declares Martial Law

This week the Burmese president, Thein Sein, declared a state of martial law in the Kokang region of Burma after a series of attacks by a rebel group left 50 Burmese soldiers dead. The Kokang is a region in the eastern part of the country that borders China, and many of its population are of Han Chinese ethnicity. Fighting began to intesify on February 9th of this year between the Burmese military and the rebel group known as the Myanmar National Democratic Alliance Army (MNDAA). The rise in fighting came as the leader of the rebel forces, Phone Kya Shin, returned to the region after a 5 year exile to China. Since his return and the rise in violence in the last few weeks, the Chinese government has reported approximately 30,000 Han Chinese residents of Burma have fled over the border into China to escape the fighting. The rebel group MNDAA claims to be fighting to create an autonomous region for the Han Chinese people in Kokang.

The law put in place by Shein Thein will put the military in complete political control of the region, and will last for a period of 3 months. This is the 2nd time in 5 years that Burma has had to declare a state of martial law within the country, as it was put in place in the state of Rakhine in 2011 to settle violence between Bhuddist and Muslims.


http://www.bbc.com/news/world-asia-31511331

Japanese Muslims Fear Backlash

Yesterday (Feb. 3rd) the Wall Street Journal posted an article to their online source titled "In Japan, Nervous Muslims Condemn Islamic State." The article comes in response to the execution of 2 Japanese journalists, Kenji Goto and Haruna Yukawa, despite attempted negotiations involving Jordan. At 130 thousand, Japan has a very small Muslim population-- they only account for .1% of Japan's population-- but Muslim religious leaders in Japan are still worried for the backlash that could come against its Muslims citizens. Threats have been made over media accounts towards Japan's Muslim population, and rallies have been held protesting Prime Minister Shinzo Abe's relaxed immigration policy that has allowed and influx of Muslim immigrants to come into Japan (mostly from Indonesia). As has been seen in other cases, such as the attacks in Australia and Canada this year, leaders have been quick to condemn the group responsible while trying to assert to non Muslim citizens that these groups do not truly represent Islam, and plead for people not to take revenge out on Muslim citizens in their home country.

http://www.wsj.com/articles/in-japan-nervous-muslims-condemn-islamic-state-1422932241