Living Silence in Burma: Surviving under Military Rule.

• Author: Thuzar, Moe
• Position: Book review

Living Silence in Burma: Surviving under Military Rule. By Christina Fink. Chiang Mai: Silkworm Books, 2009. Softcover: 300pp.

The adjective that best describes Christina Fink's revised and updated book, Living Silence in Burma, is compelling. Fink's narrative--at once readable and scholarly--tells the story of the Burmese people and their struggle for survival in a way no other scholar or student of Burma/Myanmar and its contemporary history has accomplished. Fink's factual account of events and circumstances leading up to and lingering after the democracy movement of 1988, gives voice to the silence emanating from Myanmar. Fink describes this silence as the reluctance of the people to speak out in a climate of repression and insecurity that has instilled fear and passivity. The fear that their words or actions may harm their families imposes a silence on the people of Myanmar, and this, the author argues, ultimately constrains the country's growth and development.

The author makes it clear from the outset that while the "military" and the "people" are often mentioned as separate categories, the reality is more complicated, compounding the problem of breaking the silence. While noting that the difficulty of speaking up on political and social issues is not unique to Myanmar, Fink's interviews with people from all walks of life tell the story of how military rule has affected peoples' voices. Chapters One to Five give an overview of Burma/Myanmar's modern history, with a focus on political movements from colonial times to the present day. Here, Fink gives the historical context of how the Burmese have retreated into "living in silence" to protect their families and to survive. Chapter Five, entitled "The Than Shwe Years--2000 and beyond" is a new addition. Chapters Six and Seven describe how families and communities conform and "go with the flow" in the face of constraints, to promote collective well-being. This is natural, Fink notes, as parents everywhere try to protect their children from harm. Noting that this gives an "interesting twist" to the Asian values debate, Fink observes that the result is not collective well-being but continued insecurity (p. 33).

There are, however, instances when people do speak out. Ironically, it is in the institutions where speaking out puts them most at risk that these instances occur. Chapters Eight and Nine describe the awakenings that can take place whether one is in the military or in prison. Chapter...