The Lady

The Lady came out in Malaysia just last week. Seats were selling fast when I went this weekend.

It’s beautifully filmed, and very poignant. The terrible requirement to choose between family and country is very movingly portrayed. And the courage of this extraordinary woman – and those around her – is always worth celebrating.

But I left feeling disappointed. The way this movie told the Burma/Myanmar story – in terms of light and darkness, angels and devils – is very common. It rouses our sympathies. We are invited to hate the generals and love Aung San Suu Kyi, in a way that might feel morally very satisfying. But it doesn’t help us understand anything.

There was nothing that explored Myanmar’s early difficulties with democracy, or the circumstances that brought the generals into power in the first place. There was nothing that attempted to probe their motivations, or the differences among them.

Understanding, after all, doesn’t mean condoning… I have linked to this Inside Story post before, but it’s worth another airing. An activist from the “88 Generation” explains: “I have suffered a great deal myself. But from these bitter experiences I realised that we cannot achieve what we want with hatred. We need a situation where everybody wins, including the military. They are our brothers as well.” Another “activist-turned-educator” agrees “that in every negotiation process we have to try and understand the other side’s interests, and we must make their interests our interests... Whatever worries them, we have to find out what it is and eliminate it.”

In light of these comments, the message of The Lady seemed strangely anachronistic.

Equally, there was no attempt to flag up any of the recent changes. The movie was first shown in September 2011. The winds of change were already blowing. For many observers, the breeze had been getting up ever since the dodgy election in 2010.

Yet the little text at the end of the movie gives no indication that Aung San Suu Kyi’s perseverance might finally be reaping concrete rewards.

Of course, the changes to date are not sufficient. And they’re not irreversible. But they are significant. Surely they deserved a few little words of cautious hope?

So, go and see this movie, and wonder at the strength of the human spirit, and admire Michelle Yeoh’s fabulous performance. But don’t go expecting new insight on Myanmar/Burma.

Simon Tay on ASEAN and the South China Sea

Writing about the recent US-Philippines military exercises, and ongoing difficulties over the South China Sea, Simon Tay (1 May) cautions:

“ASEAN should not automatically back the Philippines. Nor should the Aquino government expect unquestioning support from the group if the Filipinos seem to be the ones who are provoking the issue, rather than the Chinese.

“What needs to be done by ASEAN is to reinforce the multilateral setting for dialogue about the South China Sea and other issues…

“Bilateral security alliances – like that between the US and the Philippines – were once accepted benignly as a foundation for Pax Americana.

“They will undoubtedly continue…

“Today's need, however, is not for more aggressive alliances with the US, targeted against anyone. The region needs to, instead, pursue and strengthen wider processes that can engage both the US and China.

“Almost all agree that keeping the Americans in Asia can be positive. But equally, the region must understand that treating Beijing as an outsider and presuming it to always be the aggressor is a dangerous and potentially self-fulfilling prophecy.”

Wise words...