The Overseas Anglo-Burmese Community
This Wikipedia article provides some interesting background information on an important community in modern Burma. I don't believe this community has been studied in very great depth. After independence in 1948:
"The British left protectional clauses in the Constitution...to account for [sic] the Anglo-Burman people, most importantly, reserved seats in Parliament however, there immediately followed a major exodus of Anglo-Burmans, who were fearful of what awaited them in post-independence Burma. At this time, around a quarter (25%) of the population of Rangoon were enumerated as Anglo-Burmese — this was to decline steadily through to the late 1960s." (Note: A quarter the population seems like an exaggeration. A citation would be nice here.)
"Due to the perceived suffering the Bamar had encountered under British rule, affirmative action of sorts was introduced by the government of U Nu and many Anglo-Burmans began to lose their jobs, to be replaced with pure Burmans as the bureacracy of the country became increasingly Burmanized.
"Additionally, clauses relating to the Burmese language were introduced so that to take the Matriculation to enter the University of Rangoon, prospective students were required to be fluent in written Burmese (which many Anglo-Burmans had not been taught).
"When military rule was established in 1962 by a coup lead by General Ne Win, many more Anglo-Burmans left, due to discriminatory measures taken against minority groups, particularly those the military deemed as reminders of colonial rule Anglo-Burmese and the Karen). Anglo-Burmans already in the armed forces were dismissed and moving on, were not allowed to join the Armed Forces, there were also mass dismissals of Anglo-Burmans from the Civil Service in departments where they had previously dominated, such as the Customs Department and the Ministry of Posts and Telegraphs." (Note: Again citations would be nice here.)
Comparisons with other countries and societies might be useful here. The Korean dissident movements that eventually led to the downfall of Marcos in the Phillipines and the Korean generals in South Korea were led by political dissidents who operated outside of the country, Benigno Aquino in California and Kim Dae Jung in Japan. The Anglo-Burmese are maybe the largest group of Burmese migrants to other countries, though I'd sure like to find some statistics to back this assertion up. Karens who have migrated to England are another fairly large group. Despite their status as the largest group of migrants did they ever organize against the U Nu regime from outside of the country? Did they ever try to redress the wrongs that had been done to them?
What about Karens and other ethnic minorities who played important roles in the colonial civil service and armed forces? Did they lead rather insular lifes within their Christian communities? To what extent was the Burma of the U Nu period multi-racial and multi-cultural?
The last question that I have is about Wikipedia entries like this. If the successive layers of editing and quality control are never backed up by citations, how do you ever verify their accuracy?
Just found this A History of the Anglo-Burmese Community.
"The British left protectional clauses in the Constitution...to account for [sic] the Anglo-Burman people, most importantly, reserved seats in Parliament however, there immediately followed a major exodus of Anglo-Burmans, who were fearful of what awaited them in post-independence Burma. At this time, around a quarter (25%) of the population of Rangoon were enumerated as Anglo-Burmese — this was to decline steadily through to the late 1960s." (Note: A quarter the population seems like an exaggeration. A citation would be nice here.)
"Due to the perceived suffering the Bamar had encountered under British rule, affirmative action of sorts was introduced by the government of U Nu and many Anglo-Burmans began to lose their jobs, to be replaced with pure Burmans as the bureacracy of the country became increasingly Burmanized.
"Additionally, clauses relating to the Burmese language were introduced so that to take the Matriculation to enter the University of Rangoon, prospective students were required to be fluent in written Burmese (which many Anglo-Burmans had not been taught).
"When military rule was established in 1962 by a coup lead by General Ne Win, many more Anglo-Burmans left, due to discriminatory measures taken against minority groups, particularly those the military deemed as reminders of colonial rule Anglo-Burmese and the Karen). Anglo-Burmans already in the armed forces were dismissed and moving on, were not allowed to join the Armed Forces, there were also mass dismissals of Anglo-Burmans from the Civil Service in departments where they had previously dominated, such as the Customs Department and the Ministry of Posts and Telegraphs." (Note: Again citations would be nice here.)
Comparisons with other countries and societies might be useful here. The Korean dissident movements that eventually led to the downfall of Marcos in the Phillipines and the Korean generals in South Korea were led by political dissidents who operated outside of the country, Benigno Aquino in California and Kim Dae Jung in Japan. The Anglo-Burmese are maybe the largest group of Burmese migrants to other countries, though I'd sure like to find some statistics to back this assertion up. Karens who have migrated to England are another fairly large group. Despite their status as the largest group of migrants did they ever organize against the U Nu regime from outside of the country? Did they ever try to redress the wrongs that had been done to them?
What about Karens and other ethnic minorities who played important roles in the colonial civil service and armed forces? Did they lead rather insular lifes within their Christian communities? To what extent was the Burma of the U Nu period multi-racial and multi-cultural?
The last question that I have is about Wikipedia entries like this. If the successive layers of editing and quality control are never backed up by citations, how do you ever verify their accuracy?
Just found this A History of the Anglo-Burmese Community.
posted by Jon Fernquest at 9:28 PM
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