Today in Myanmar » Culture & Custom

Culture Shock – Beware of your Feet

Bamarlay — Thu, 08 Apr 2010 17:08:15 +0000

I met many foreigners (mostly westerners) who do not feel anything to put their feet on the table while sitting on the chair. This seems a normal habit to them. They don’t feel like it is a strange or rude thing to do it. And I know they don’t mean to be rude. However, in the eyes of a Burmese (Myanmar) man, it is a strange behavior. Indeed, in the eyes of a Burmese, it is really a very rude thing. For Burmese (Myanmar), head is the most sacred part of the human body while feet are the most inferior part. Being the lowest part, they are not only under every part of the body but also the dirtiest part. They touch ground, dirt, mud, garbage, feces; just think of all the dirty things lying on the ground. Invariably, feet become the most dirty and smelly part of your body. Just try to sniff your feet at the end of the day. For Burmese, dirty part should only be in the lower place. When you put that dirty part of yours onto somebody’s clean table, it is like an insult to that person; I mean if that person is a [...]

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Culture Shock – When a Myanmar do not say NO

Bamarlay — Sat, 03 Apr 2010 15:58:28 +0000

Many a time, foreigners (especially western foreign expats working in Myanmar) will notice that things they ask from Myanmar friends are met with affirmative answers but never materialized. For example, a westerner expat might invite his friend to a dinner party. The Myanmar friend is not free on that day. Normally, a westerner will simply decline to the invitation and tell his friend that he cannot come because he is not free. In case of Myanmar friend, he would probably say yes, even though he knows he cannot come. On the day of the dinner, he is not appearing. He would not also call his foreigner friend that he cannot come. The next day, he will apologize his friend for not being able to come, blah, blah, blah. The foreigner might think that his friend is not trust worthy and not consistent. Here lies that difference between western culture and Myanmar culture. Myanmar people are usually reluctant to say no, especially to foreigners. (Forget about those annoying taxi drivers and shop keepers. They are the exceptions.) The closer he is to you, the more he may be reluctant to say no. Thus, instead of saying “No”, he will simply choose [...]

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Culture Shock – The Story of “YES”

Bamarlay — Sat, 27 Mar 2010 14:26:52 +0000

I worked for a French Company for over 10 years. When I talked with my boss and other French friends, I used to prompt the conversation with YES, not with “ah ha”, “I see”, “really” etc. like in western way. After some times they came back and asked me if I have done their requests. I was puzzled. “I have never promised to do that thing for you”, I told them. But you said, “YES a few days ago” they countered. This kind of incident happened not only to me but also to my other Myanmar friends. The root of the problem lies in “YES”. Myanmar (Burmese) use the prompting word “YES” when conversing, westerners don’t. For Myanmar (Burmese), YES is not a promise or acceptance. It is simply a way of acknowledging the conversation: a simple way of saying “I hear what you say”. So when we speak in English, our habit of saying YES in Myanmar (Burmese) is literally translated into English word YES. We have our own special word when we accept something. It is a cultural difference. Later we had to explain it to our French friends to take our “YES” as a meaningless word. At [...]

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Burmese proverb – Destroy the Rafts

Ko Ko — Thu, 06 Aug 2009 14:30:37 +0000

The king ordered his general to take a part of the army and pursue the opposing forces. The king said, “When you find them, do not attack but wait until I arrived with the main army”. After following for several days scouts reported that they had found their prey. The general and his troops make haste and by night fall arrived quietly at the bank of a river. On the other side of the river they saw the camps of the opposing forces unaware of the arrival of the general and his troops. The opposing forces had many times more men then the general’s. The general thought he could win if he launches a surprise attack and decided not to wait for the main army. He gave order to prepare for a battle. They make many bamboo rafts and silently cross the river during the night. After all the troops had crossed over, the general ordered to destroy all the rafts. His lieutenants objected that the raft would be needed if they have to retreat. The general said, “If we lose, the king will execute us for disobeying him. It is better to die fighting then to be executed, so [...]

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Burmese (Myanmar) Names

News: Start of Taung Pyone spirit festival

Bamarlay — Thu, 30 Jul 2009 15:21:49 +0000

Tens of thousands are gathering in Taung Pyone (Taung Byone) near Mandalay to celebrate the annual nat pwe (festival for spirits). The week-long festival starts this week with as many as 100,000 believers gathering to celebrate in the grand festival for the nats (spirits). There are a number of nat pwes (spirit festivals) in Myanmar. Of these, Taung Pyone is the largest and the most important festival of all. This festival is to commemorate the fable of the two nat brothers Min Gyi and Min Lay, also known as Shwe Byin Nyi Naung (Shwe Phyin Nyi Naung or Shwe Byin Brothers). These two brothers were the heroes/worriors during the time of Bagan King Anawrahta. According to the legend, these two were drunk on their night of their duty to build a pagoda. This was found out by the king and were ordered to be executed. However, they were later proclaimed as nats by King Anawrahta, possibly due to their popularity among the ordinary citizens. Since that time, these two brothers had been worshipped by millions of believers all over Burma. Ironically, the two brothers were not Buddhists. They were Muslim brothers. These were the only two nats in Burma who [...]

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News from local media about Yangon Bomb Blast

Mandalay entertainment – Mandalay Marionette (Puppet) Theatre

Bamarlay — Mon, 06 Jul 2009 12:01:26 +0000

One of the best well known Myanmar traditional theatre performances in Myanmar is the Mandalay Marionette Theatre (also known as Mandalay Puppet Theatre). First founded by two ladies in 1986, the troupe started their performance by performing for the tourists coming to Myanmar. The two founders were Ma Ma Naing, daughter of U Thein Naing, the writer of Burmese Puppet Theatre (1966) and Naing Ye Mar. The troupe is supervised by Dr. Tin Maugn Kyi, a researcher on Myanmar puppet, U Pan Aye and U Shwe Nan Tin, seasoned and well respected puppet masters. The troupe has won a number of national awards, and has performed in various foreign countries. The daily performance consists of two or three parts depending on the program. The parts are Part 1 – Introduction to Myanmar traditional dance and music Musical prelude by a traditional Myanmar orchestra Traditional harp Candle light dance (Bagan dance) Part 2 – Myanmar puppet show Traditional opening – worshipping of spirits Himalaya scene – a traditional scene where the story teller recounts the creation of earth and universe Alchemist (Zawgyi) dance Royal Page Boy’s dance Comedians Competitive dance (between a puppet and a human dancer) Prince and the princess [...]

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Mandalay Entertainment – Moustache Brothers

Bamarlay — Sat, 04 Jul 2009 07:45:01 +0000

If you want to have a glimpse of traditional Myanmar anyient (dance and comedy show), the best place to see is in Mandalay. The Moustache Brothers Troupe (Mustache Brothers) is a group of banned anyient comedians, once famous among the people of Myanmar but now banned from performing in front of general public for their political activities. They perform their show every evening at 8:30 PM at their home in Mandalay. Because of restrictions imposed on the troupe, the performence cannot be done in full traditional costume. They perform their performence in normal dress, announcing that they are merely demonstrating what the actual Myanmar traditional anyient looks like. This is a mean to circumvent their public performence restriction. The three moustache brothers are Par Par Lay, Lu Maw and Lu Zaw. Par Par Lay used to be a very well known comedian in Myanmar, until his arrest and prison sencente, together with one of his brothers, for seven years. They were arrested after their performence in 1995 at the Myanmar Independence Day performence at NLD head quarter (then at the house of Aung San Su Kyi). They were released in 2000, after serving five of their seven years term, but [...]

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Myanmar Thingyan

Bamarlay — Sun, 12 Apr 2009 12:07:28 +0000

Thingyan is probably the most celebrated, most joyous event in the culture and custom of Myanmar people. From the poorest to the richest in Myanmar, this is the greatest event for the year. Every body, poor, rich, uneducated, educated, young and old all participate and enjoy in this once a year event. For every Burmese, this is the event not to be missed. Even for those Burmese people in foreign countries, this is the time for a celebration in the memory of their homeland and their culture. Thingyan is indeed the event for every Burmese, in Myanmar or outside. Thingyan is actually not a true traditional Burmese custom. It is an imported cultural event, incorporated and extensively modified over several hundred years to become essentially a true Burmese cultural event. The origin of Thingyan can be traced back to India where it is one of the events of Hindi culture. The culture of Thingyan was brought into Burma by many Indian Brahmins who came to Burma to serve in the courts of Burmese kingdoms. As these Indian Brahmins held important positions in the court of Burmese kings, their culture, tradition and believes had great influence on the culture and tradition [...]

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Karen Bamboo Dance

Bamarlay — Thu, 12 Feb 2009 11:38:03 +0000

The above is the Karen (Kayin) bamboo dance. It is quite similar to Chin bamboo dance. Dancers dance quick steps among the striking bamboos. This need high level of practice, skills and timing. One wrong move and your foot will be struck by the bamboo poles. In Karen state and among Karen people, Karen bamboo dance is played whenever there is a ceremony: Christmas, Karen New Year, Church functions, Pagoda festivals. The Karen bamboo dance is also quite well known and popular among other races in Myanmar, while Chin dance is relatively unknown in Myanmar. (The first time I saw Chin bamboo dance was while I was in Hakha during Chin National Day in 2007. Another well known Karen dance is Karen Done Yaine, a group dancing by Karen people. It is so well known that when I was in HIgh School, girls from our school form a Karen done yaine dance group to perform in school functions. Karen Bamboo Dance is an article from Myanmar Today, a site about Myanmar news, culture, custom, information and travel advice. If you like our articles, why don't you link to us in your website? It is simple. Just copy and paste the [...]

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Another Chin traditional Bamboo dance

Bamarlay — Tue, 10 Feb 2009 11:08:03 +0000

Here is another video of Chin traditional Bamboo dance. The dance style is a little bit different form another Chin bamboo dance. This one was also took in Hakha in 2007. The dancers are the high school students from the Falam State High School. Another Chin traditional Bamboo dance is an article from Myanmar Today, a site about Myanmar news, culture, custom, information and travel advice. If you like our articles, why don't you link to us in your website? It is simple. Just copy and paste the following code somewhere into your webpage. We really appreciate your link to us. <a href="http://www.myanmar2day.com/">Myanmar Today</a> Related Posts Chin traditional Bamboo dance Chin traditional dance on Chin National Day Karen Bamboo Dance

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