Myanmar’s recent general election is a joyous moment for the people of the country, who have been ruled by a military dictatorship since the early 1960s. For poet and publicist Myay Hmone Lwin the election results, which look set to improve the situation through the victory of the National League for Democracy, paints a hopeful picture for his country’s future, hopefully a future free from rampant censorship and piracy, as well as a chance for Myanmar to make itself known on an international level.
“I’m currently very excited for the upcoming elections in my country,” Lwin told Life at the Singapore Writers’ Festival, held between Oct 30 and Nov 8.
“There’s still a long way to go before Myanmar can stand shoulder to shoulder with its fellow Asean nations, of course. Things are getting better, but it will still take time to get everything to where it should be. Being closed off from the rest of the world for so long, the people of Myanmar will need time to learn how to interact with people on an international level.”
Lwin, who is best known for his collection of poetry and short stories, started his own publishing company at the ripe age of 18, when he felt dissatisfied with the level of education offered by the colleges of Myanmar.
“I spent two months in college before quitting in favour of publishing my first book,” said Lwin.
“At the time, I was dissatisfied with both the education system as well as the environment inside the college. All my friends at the time were only concerned with drinking and gambling and I felt it would be best for me to distance myself from such an unproductive environment.”
Myanmar’s education system, according to Lwin, revolved solely around telling students to “parrot” back information in the textbooks, which were more often than not inaccurate due to the constant alterations made by the military government. This form of education not only distorts the truth, it also keeps people oblivious to the issues being discussed outside the country.
“Due to Myanmar’s long isolation from the outside world, the people of Myanmar are generally unaware of the social issues and discussions happening around the world,” said Lwin.
“One great example of this is the level of awareness the people in Myanmar have in regards to copyright laws. In the days of the military regime, Myanmar had no copyright laws and piracy ran rampant, even in the literary industry.”
Myay Hmone Lwin.
In Myanmar, literary piracy is a serious issue facing publishers the country over. Due to the expensive cost of translated foreign texts, many pirate publishers around Myanmar have taken advantage of the lack of any copyright protection laws and published pirated copies of foreign books to be sold at a significantly cheaper price.
“In my opinion, the people don’t really have a choice in the matter.The general daily income in Myanmar is about 3,000 kyat. That means that the average person in Myanmar must save three days’ worth of wages to buy a single translated book. Pirated copies generally sell for 2,000 to 3,000 kyat, making them a much better choice.” While piracy is undoubtedly one of the major factors working against the development of Myanmar’s literary scene, Lwin also cites the constant efforts of censorship as another major factor holding back the growth of Myanmar’s authors and publishers.
“Writing under the dictatorial government means that your work is constantly getting censored or altered to fit the regime’s agenda. Even textbooks or history books aren’t safe, as the government is constantly revising them to fit their own political agendas,” he said.
Now free from the influences of the military dictatorship, Lwin aims to take advantage of the freedom of expression that accompanies a democratic government to publish accurate depictions of Myanmar’s history, with plans to translate these texts into other languages in the hopes of educating and reintroducing the international community to Myanmar.
“Under the dictatorship, even the people of Myanmar weren’t aware of the actual history of their country. In order to move forwards, we first need to be able to look at the past to learn where our mistakes were. My hopes for these books are that they can dispel any false truths about Myanmar’s history for its own people as well as the international community as a whole.”
