A Fashion Show and the 'Bad Guys'

It looked like a fashion show, a fashion show by the serious and hawkish Burmese generals. The Burmese people saw their ruthless, ruling generals entertaining them like traditional stage comedians. Looking at the picture, the people smiled or burst out laughing.

Eleven ministers, the prime minister, the foreign minister and other ministers, wore colorful, silk sarongs, old-style white traditional jackets, Burmese turbans (in matching colors) and one-inch high velvet sandals as they welcomed visiting Laotian Prime Minister Bousasone Bouphavanh to Napyidaw, the capital of Burma, in late June.

No one has seen a group of military rulers dressed in such costumes in the past two decades, since the current regime staged a coup in 1988. Their predecessors, members of Ne Win’s authoritarian Socialist regime, used to wear similar dress in their hand-picked parliament between 1974 and 1988.

Laotian Prime Minister Bouasone Bouphavanh (center) is accompanied by his Burmese counterpart
Thein Sein as he is greeted by ministers and deputy ministers in Naypyidaw in June.

Nowadays, the costumes the ministers wore are not seen in everyday life in Burma. But you can see similar costumes worn by Burmese comedians in a traditional performance troupes. In Burmese people’s eyes, the costumes really look funny. They instantly know the people wearing them are jokers.

Thus, the ministers' dress was even more startling when compared to their life-long military uniforms. Also, the way they stood was funny. Although in civilian costumes, the ministers stand stiffly at attention like soldiers. Maybe they've forgotten how to stand like civilians.

The picture The Irrawaddy obtained, published in our English and Burmese websites, received more than a hundred comments from our readers. See the comments at Irrawaddy Burmese and English websites.

Kyaw Zwa Moe is managing editor of the Irrawaddy magazine. He can be reached at [email protected].

The generals stripped off their military uniforms in April when they resigned to form the government-backed Union Solidarity and Development Party to contest in the elections this year.

One reader joked in the comment box: “Great fashion! Who's the designer?”

Actually, that's a serious question. Because everything the generals do is political, even their clothing. It wasn't really about clothing—it was about politics. So, the designer must be Snr-Gen Than Shwe, who always calls the shot—even the fashion shots.

Changing their clothing are part of the junta's effort to claim legitimacy. Military uniforms bring back memories of oppression for the Burmese people. So the generals want to be seen as “civilians” instead of generals. It looks like they are trying to wash their bloody hands before entering electoral politics.

Than Shwe and his subordinates would like to believe dress alone is enough to persuade voters. But people's perspectives—not only Burmese but outsiders—won't change. The bad guys are the bad guys.

The US-based Foreign Policy magazine named its July/August issue “The Bad Guys Issue,” and the cover of the magazine has a headline: “The Committee to Destroy the World,” referring to the world's worst dictators.

“The Bad Guys Issue” includes an article “The Worst of the Worst.” The article says, “There are at least 40 dictators around the world today, and approximately 1.9 billion people live under the grip of the 23 autocrats on this list alone. There are plenty of coconuts to go around.”

Burma has been reduced to achieving reknown by being on a “worst” list. Snr-Gen Than Shwe was listed as the world's third worst dictator following the No. 1, North Korean leader Kim Jong Il, and No. 2, Robert Mugabe, president of Zimbabwe. Than Shwe has held power for 18 years.