The Use of “Democracy” as an Adjective in -Myanmar Newspaper English-

The Use of “Democracy” as an Adjective in

-Myanmar Newspaper English-

NANG SENG HONG

Introduction

The nature of the human beings is to look for a better life and individual welfare. They believe that a stable government and a system of political rights can lead them to safety and prosperity, to a “good society”. Democracy tends to be a system of choice, because people can choose to vote and elect their representatives. This is a system of government employed by 63 percent of the world’s countries. However, democracy has still not become established in 31 out of the more than 120 countries in the world.¹

History and Background

Burma was a British colony and got independence in 1948. After independence, Burma was a parliamentary democracy and a relatively rich country for the world of at that time. Due to reasons of internal struggle, Nay Win led a military coup and came to power in 1962. Nay Win’s military government ran the country with socialist economic policies. Burma suffered due to lost human rights and faced economic crisis. Nation-wide demonstrations were held in 1988 in support of Burma becoming a democratic country. The military under the name of their State Law and Order Restoration Council (SLORC) killed nearly 3,000 demonstrators, but promised the country they would establish a democratic government. The military junta changed the name “Burma” to “Myanmar” in 1989. The National League of Democracy (NLD) led by Aung San Suu Kyi got over 80% votes in a 1990 election but SLORC refused to accept these results. Aung San Suu Kyi was put under strict house arrest in 1989 and thousands of political prisoners were arrested and sent to jail.2

Under the authority of the military, a National Convention was held in 1993. The military junta did not accept any suggestions from the NLD and tightly controlled the National Convention. The NLD announced that this constitution would not represent for people or minorities and boycotted the National Convention, which stopped functioning in 1996. Nevertheless, SLORC created a New Constitution without any interference by its few elected members.

Under internal and external pressure, SLORC renamed itself the State Peace and Development Council (SPDC) in 1997 and began the implementation of what they claim will be a 7-step road map to democracy. The military junta has been facing pressure to release political prisoners and move toward national reconciliation from the UN and the major Western powers. The SPDC increased fuel prices in August 2007, which resulted in Buddhist monks leading peaceful marches with the people and calling for a solution to the problems of the humanitarian crises at hand. Nevertheless, the military junta crackdown was violent, with the shooting, beating and arresting of many monks.

The world criticized the violent crackdown and the EU decided to extend their sanctions against the military junta. However, the military junta announced that, the constitution being completed, a referendum would be held in May 2008 and a new multi-party democratic election would be held in 2010. The SPDC refused to accept the result of the 1990 election and ignored the world’s suggestion to make a dialog with pro-democracy groups and minorities or to move towards national reconciliation. In stead, they affirmed that their 7-step Road Map would soon be complete.

Research Question

Because of the difficulties facing the establishment of democracy in Myanmar, in this paper I would like to explore how the military defines the meaning of democracy and how this could relate to the establishment of a democratic government in Myanmar.

Methodology

All media in Myanmar are under the strict control of the military junta. For the purpose of this research, I investigated the term of democracy and morphologically related words from the one daily English newspaper published in Myanmar called the “The New Light of Myanmar” (NLM). This newspaper was established in 1914, but is now used by the military junta to promote their doctrines both internally and externally. Another reason for using this newspaper was that the NLM includes articles outlining the government’s desires, policies, and political, economic, social objectives. If, we can analyze the term of democracy and it collocations carefully, we would discover what the military image of democracy might be and what the chances are of a democratic government being established in Myanmar.

Selection of Materials

May, June and July of 2008 were a very sensitive period in the history of Myanmar. Nearly one week before the military’s referendum on a constitution was to be held, Cyclone Nargis hit Myanmar and approximately 133,000 people perished, with another 2.4 million people losing their property and becoming homeless.³ Nevertheless, the military not only ignored international requests to delay the referendum but refused to accept aid also. They controlled the issuance of visas for UN staff and journalists who intended to observe the referendum.

The disaster areas had been emptied and the referendum lacked international approval, but the military junta announced that this constitution was ratified and promulgated by 98.12 of those who voted. The world criticized the referendum as not being either free and fair and because voting for a new constitution was deemed more important than the lives of the cyclone victims. With many thousands of helpless survivors being ignored, the military neglected humanitarian problems to solidify power only. Seeking release from this pressure, the military tried to prove that they were promoting democratic government, and, through NLM articles, tried to present to the world their ideals and assumptions concerning democracy.

The issues of the NLM, published in English for May, June and July of 2008 were downloaded from the internet at URL http://www.myanmargeneva.org/newseng-printE.htm. The data from the digitized versions were downloaded as PDF files and Adobe Reader was used to track the context in which democracy and morphologically related words were used. The sentences so found with democracy and democracy-related words were copied and pasted to a separate word document.

Analysis of the Data

First, sentences containing democracy were separated according to whether democracy was a noun or an adjective. If a noun appeared, sorting was done according to whether democracy appeared by itself or was together with another adjective. If democracy was presented in a positive context, I ranked its use as being positive, but if the context was problematic, I considered the use to be negative. If it was presented in neither a good nor a bad context, I considered its use to be neutral. A collocation search was then done and I noted whether the words which collocated were nouns or adjectives. The data represents a three-month period.

Results

Table 1 – Democracy as a noun

Context	May	June	July
Positive	1	7	2
Negative	4	34	24
Neutral	5	26	23
Total	10	67	49

Democracy appeared as a noun with a positive meaning one time in May, seven times in June and two times in July. Negative meanings were 4, 34 and 24 times and neutral meanings were 5, 26, 23 times in May, June, and July. Immediately below you can find positive, negative, and neutral examples:

(1) "That is a giant step for transition to democracy to satisfy the people’s desire" or “Do not make the goal of democracy far away from the people”. (Lu thit (Padauk Mya, NLM 31/7/2008 7, line 8);

(2) "When I read news stories that in consequence of too much democracy freedom, cases of shooting spree took place in schools and many children lost their lives in the events, the news about rapacious George Soroz,[…and other examples…]. I feel that as for our country with fine cultural traditions, such democracy is like a gift of chicken that is given when bird flu is spreading." (Hlaing Bwa (Parami) “My knowledge of democracy”NLM 13/7/2008:6, line 61,72)

(3) "Whatever it may be, the two parties give priority to the national interest and work together with the sense of democracy (Kyaw Min Lu (Shwepyitha) “Let’s nurture the sapling of democracy (2)” NLM 21/6/2008:7, line 104)

Table 2 – Democracy as an adjective

Context	May	June	July
Positive	11	48	37
Negative	3	17	18
Neutral	7	30	18
Total	21	95	73

As an adjective, there was use of democracy in a positive context 11 times in May, 48 times in June and 37 times in July. It was note-worthy that the use in a negative context was less at 3, 17, 18 times respectively and in a neutral context were 7, 30 and 18 times in May, June and July. Representative examples are: (1) "Therefore, I would say this constitution guarantees national races all possible democracy rights. (Soe Mya Kyaw “The most appropriate constitution, (3) ”NLM 9/5/2008: 4, line 89), (2) "We have to bear in mind that democracy practice can improve slowly according to how much the people are mature in view and knowledge. (Soe Mya Kyaw “The most appropriate constitution” NLM 7/5/2008:11, line 114)," and (3) "So, we have to understand and accept the evolution process of democracy practice. (Soe Mya Kyaw “The most appropriate constitution”NLM 7/5/2008: 11, line 113)"

Table 3 – Democratic

Context	May	June	July
Positive	27	2	51
Negative	0	7	10
Neutral	4	6	11
Total	31	15	72

Concerning the use of democratic appeared with positive context 27 times in May, 2 times in June and 51 times in July. There were no negative context in May, but 7 times in June and 10 time in July. It appeared in neutral context 4, 6, 11 times in May, June and July. Respectively, examples of positive, negative and neutral use are: (1) The State Peace and Development Council has been working hand in hand with the people for the emergence of a modern developed discipline-flourishing democratic nation. (Anon “Myanmar holds referendum for emergence of modern developed discipline-flourishing democratic nation”NLM 11/5/2008: 6, line 8); (2) Anti-government politicians who are said to be those respect democracy cannot accept the very democratic practice. (Lu Thit “Do not make the goal of democracy far away from the people” NLM 31/7/2008:6, line 11); and, (3) The most democratic way is to respect and fulfill the wishes of the majority of the people. (U Pyap Kyaw “Let’s march forward along the path to democracy paved by the people” NLM 26/6/2008: 7, l,18)

Table 4 – Democratic nation

Context	May	June	July
Positive	4	2	1
Negative	0	1	0
Neutral	4	2	2
Total	8	5	3

Uses of term democratic nation were specifically investigated for this period, as the phrase stood out in comparison with other uses of democratic. It appeared itself total of 8 times in May, 5 times in June and 3 times in July. Positive context appeared 4, 2, 1 times in May, June and July. No mention for negative context in May and July but only one time in June. Neutral context appeared 4, 2, 2 times in May, June and July. Positive, negative and neutral examples are: (1) Only then, will it be possible for us to get the most discipline-flourishing and developed democratic nation. (Anon “The most appropriate constitution...”NLM 9/5/2008: 5, line 92); (2) In Myanmar that has been in the process of transforming itself into a democratic nation through the seven-step Road Map, since the government issued Announcement No 1/2008 for the approval of the State constitution, which was adopted by the National Convention, NLD had provoked and persuaded the people in collusion with the four western media groups to vote ‘No’ for the constitution and to disrupt the process of the referendum. (Aung Ze Min “Why did Myanmar people unanimously vote for State constitution?” NLM 17/6/2008:7, line 55); and (3) Now workers and peasants hand in hand with national people are making endeavors for building a new democratic nation. (Anon “Boost production for development of industrial sector” NLM 1/5/2008: 2, line 7)

5. Democrat was also investigated. There was no mention made of the word, democrat, in May and June. There was only one appearance in July and this in a neutral context. The sole example was as follows: National democrats who favors (sic!) national interest should employ national politics and national vision objectively in reviewing the concept. (Maung Cetana (B.A Bed) “Destination of pessimists”NLM 15/7/2008: 6, line 27)

6. Discussion

Democracy appeared as an adjective more than as a noun in the NLM. When it appeared as a noun, it was in a negative context more often than a positive or neutral context. The ratio of negative use to positive was roughly six to one (62 times in a negative context versus 10 times in a positive context). The ratio of positive context use as an adjective was roughly three times higher than negative context use (96 times in a positive context versus 38 times in a negative context).

The contributors of NLM presented democracy as being representative of an alien culture and their writings provide concrete evidence for their being uncomfortable with the idea of democracy. The following example will illustrate the attitude of the military attitude towards democracy as it is expressed by NLM writers:

“When I read news stories that in consequence of too much democracy freedom, cases of shooting spree took place in schools and many children lost their lives in the events, the news about rapacious George Soroz,[…and other examples…]. I feel that as for our country with fine cultural traditions, such democracy is like a gift of chicken that is given when bird flu is spreading.” (Hlaing Bwa (Parami), NLM, 13/7/2008, page 6, line 61)

Significantly, we can see in this comparison of democracy to an agent of contagion that there is also a recognition of the fact that Myanmar, from the viewpoint of the military, is not yet politically stable and also the fear that democracy would further destabilize the situation for the military. Elsewhere democracy was seen as necessary and it was recognized that "Furthermore, our people greatly want democracy.” (Lu Thit (Padauk Mya), NLM, 16/6/2008, page 7, line 129)

The general message conveyed by the NLM was that democracy was a prevalent in the outside world, but that Myanmar was unique and it would seem difficult to accept or promote in Myanmar without modification. In fact, when democracy was used as an adjective and in the neutral contexts, this can be found clearly stated as follows:

In reality, it is because they do not understand the difference between the historical background for democracy transition of other countries and that of Myanmar. (Maung Cetana (B.A Bed), NLM, 15/7/2008, 6, line 108)

Obviously, for the military government, democracy activists or democracy movements are equated with saboteurs and terrorists. The Democracy Party (the primary opposition party) also invariably appeared in a negative context as can be seen in the following examples:

(1) “It has praised terrorists and saboteurs as democracy activists, showing its intrigue putting danger to the nation.” (Anon., NLM, 4/6/2008, page 6, line 101)

(2) “If they claimed themselves to be public party or democracy party although they are committing such crimes, their policy will be in contrary to that of the people.” (U Pyay Kyaw, NLM, 26/6/2008, page 7, line 97)

Nevertheless, when democracy was used as an adjective, it appeared positive contexts far more frequently than negative contexts. Moreover, when it was used in the phrase democracy nation, it was almost entirely in a positive context.

“In fact, in pursuance of the seven-step Road Map to build a discipline-flourishing democracy nation, the government is dealing with anti-government groups and persons with great patience in order to achieve national reconsolidation.” (Soe Mya Kyaw, NLM, 11/6/2008, page 4, column l, line 89)

In fact, democratic nation appeared 16 times (10 times in positive context, in neutral context 5 times and only 1 time in negative context) in May, June and July in 2008. Interestingly, it attracted adjectives such as developed, modern or peaceful and collocated frequently with the phrase discipline-flourishing, for which there was no negative usage.

Discipline-flourishing, in particular, seemed to represent and reflect the world-view of the military government, a view in which professional soldiers had an essential function in creating the discipline necessary for a stable society to develop. That contrasted with the apparent junta fear that democracy was something unrestrained and easily destructive in the context of Myanmar. Evidence for this was:

“In conclusion, the minister urged the literary workers to inculcate the people with correct outlook and knowledge, to safeguard the national interest, to discharge the duties bestowed by history in efforts for emergence of a modern, developed discipline-flourishing democratic nation and to realize the objectives of the association.” (Anon , NLM, 29/6/2008, page 9, line 153)

The most striking discovery was that, democrat appeared only time during the three-month period under study and that was in a neutral context. Quite obviously, the significance of this lies in the fact that the government do not see any difference between themselves and the leaders of the democracy movement, the hidden assumption of the military being that there are no democrats in any political grouping in Myanmar at present and, that given the opportunity, the opposition would act exactly as the military is at present.

Briefly put, the choice of words found in the NLM reflect military policy and its negative viewpoint of Western-style democracy. Writers were often anonymous but, even when not, they can be seen to use government inspired code words which promote military intent and which serve to paint the activities of other political groups as criminal and/or subject to restraint.

7. Conclusion

Democracy can be understood to exist when all citizens have an equal right to vote and elect a government and where majority rule applies, as can be seen in American and British dictionaries. Nevertheless, there is no native Burmese term for democracy which can be found in any Burmese-English dictionary. This is further reinforced by the fact that there are eight major national groups and 135 distinct ethnic minorities in Myanmar³. Each ethnic group has its own language, though the official language used in Myanmar is that of the ruling Myanmar ethnic group. It goes without saying that the understanding of democracy must necessarily vary between these ethnic groups. Minority nationalities do not normally have the opportunity to publish written works in their own languages and the military regime has made no perceivable effort to promote the languages of the various ethnic groups of Myanmar.

The idea of Democracy is an uncomfortable one for the military junta to accept. It always emphasizes that democracy should be modified or restrained and, to that effect, words such as process, transition, developing often collocated. Obviously, in response to this fear, the representative phrase, discipline-flourishing democracy, was created. It seems, for the time being, to have become a slogan of sorts for the military leaders who find themselves under pressure.

The explanation of democracy in the context of NLM is slippery and inextricably with the lack of agreed-upon definitions. Unfortunately, as mentioned above, it is by no means clear how the various Burmese ethnic groups define the meaning of democracy. Moreover, there is no Burmese-Burmese dictionary, nor similar dictionaries for the minority languages. This, as much as the political factors involved, has allowed the government to put the democracy icon Aung San Suu Kyi under detention and to label any pro-democracy activities as being criminal and the work of saboteurs. In stead, the goal of the government is to establish a democratic government in Myanmar under the control of the military junta which can be considered as a contradiction in terms. Nevertheless, the prospect in sight at present is that neither will Western standards of democracy be employed by the government nor will democratic values in take root in Myanmar as people expect in western countries.

After parliamentary democracy was lost, the various ethnic groups took their guns and have fought for their human rights since 1962. Neither the 1947 nor the1974 constitution could maintain state stability and peace. The 1988 and 2007 revolutions showed that the rule of the military was rejected. It should be emphasized that the ethnic rebel troops though out recent Burmese history have been challenging the military to create a system of political rights which would guarantee their safety and prosperity. Rather than new elections, the regime currently in power would do well to release its more than 2,000 political prisoners, cease attacks on ethnic minorities, and genuinely engage with the National League of Democracy (NLD), the opposition's political umbrella, as the NLD is a more representative mirror of the Burmese people as a whole. What should be done and what is actually happening are, however, different matters. The military junta currently robs the freedom of Burmese people and coerces them on a daily basis to participate in a flawed political process. Nevertheless, it may be expected that the various Burmese ethnic groups will continue to give their lives and struggle to achieve the democratic values which are necessary to guarantee both their prosperity and human dignity.

NOTES:
1. Martin et al., p3.
2. A biography of Aung San Suu Kyi, Burma Camping UK. Daw Aung San Suu Kyi and Myanmar's political prisoners, Amnesty International.
3. Tehran Times, p6.

ONLINE RESOURCES:

Compact Oxford English Dictionary, http://www.askoxford.com/concise_oed/democracy?view=uk

Longman Dictionary of Contemporary English, http://www.ldoceonline.com/dictionary/democracy

Webster’s Student Dictionary, http://www.wordcentral.com/cgi-bin/student?book=Student&va=democracy

http://www.ldoceonline.com/dictionary/democracy

REFERENCES:

AFP, Tehran Times International Daily, May 28, 2008,

Martin Lipset Seymour and M.Lakin Jason (2004), "The Democratic Century" the University of Okalahoma Press, Norman, USA.

Nang Seng Hong (2009), "Representations of Stability, Peace and Tranquility In "The New Light of Myanmar" Foreign Language journal, Daitou Bunka University, Vol.38

U Win Tin (9/9/2009), "An 'Election' Burma's People Don't Need" The Washington Post
http://www.crisisgroup.org/home/index.cfm?id=5093&gclid=CNGBiMbYzZwCFUwwpAodQ
http://www.foundationburma.org/node/4
http://www.myanmargeneva.org/newseng-printE.htm
Map-Democracies users.erols.com/mwhite28/govt2000.htm
http://www.state.gov/r/pa/ei/bgn/35910.htm
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Burma

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_New_Light_of_Myanmar