- Email: [email protected]
Taking a stand in Burma
Perspectives
productivity, and wastage of the current models. There is nothing unrealistic, far less unimaginable, in Barker’s vision of the future of medicine. Most readers will be quite familiar with the individual ideas, but Barker’s achievement is in
bringing them together powerfully and persuasively. The race is on for leadership in the new world of convergent health technology, and there’s not a moment to lose. The vision is lofty, the timescale ambitious, but we are invited to see a bigger
picture of the future of medicine, just as Bevan saw in his day from the podium at Park Hospital, so recently vacated by Glen Miller.
Gordon Duff g.w.duff@sheffield.ac.uk
In brief Film Taking a stand in Burma
Burma Soldier Directed by Nic Dunlop, Annie Sundberg, and Ricki Stern. A LeBrocquy Fraser/ Break Thru Films production for HBO, 2010. To be screened by HBO in May, 2011. http://www.breakthrufilms.org/ burma-soldier See Online for webvideo See Perspectives page 374
372
Burma Soldier tells the story of one man, Myo Mint, and his journey from teenage soldier to peace and democracy activist. In telling this courageous man’s story so well, filmmakers Nic Dunlop, Annie Sundberg, and Ricki Stern have done something remarkable—they have captured the history of modern Burma through one man’s life. Focusing on Myo Mint, and having him narrate his own awakening to the realities of Burma’s brutal civil conflict, Burma Soldier makes the seemingly intolerable suffering of the Burmese people under military rule both palpable and bearable for the viewer. And Dunlop’s still photography adds potent visual power and depth to the work. That the film ends with this severely disabled veteran reuniting with his lost family and even more committed to the struggle for freedom in his homeland is deeply encouraging. Burma Soldier hauntingly portrays life for ordinary citizens under the Tatmadaw, the Burmese military. This corrupt and illegitimate regime has held power in various formulations since General Ne Win’s coup of 1962. Like so many young Burmese, Myo Mint joins the military seeking a better life and employment. He does not question why Burma remains at war with herself, why ethnic nationalities are seen as enemies, or why the ruling generals insist on a complete monopoly of political power. A mortar shell injury sustained on a demining mission costs him an arm and a leg—and a discharge from
the Tatmadaw. Recovering, he begins to read. His growing awareness leads to a free library and a deepening interest in politics and peace. Pushing for change extracts a heavy price. For speaking out against military rule, Myo Mint is arrested, beaten, and finally imprisoned for 15 years in Burma’s gulag. He is not alone. Burma currently holds more than 2100 political prisoners, including members of Aung San Suu Kyi’s National League for Democracy, clergy of all faiths, ethnic leaders, journalists, and humanitarian relief workers imprisoned for independently responding to Burma’s Cyclone Nargis in 2008. Surviving prison, Myo Mint’s journey carries him to exile in Thailand. There he again begins a free library, and to speak and teach for freedom. Resettlement to the USA comes some years later—and a joyous reunion with siblings not seen in decades. So much of the suffering of Burma’s people is in this story. The rule of the generals has been marked by well documented brutality and corruption, and by the all encompassing nature of the system they maintain. An extractive economy based largely on selling Burma’s natural resources has enriched military families and cronies, but left Burma one of the least developed countries in Asia. Health-care spending by the government was less than US$1 per year per citizen in 2008. Some 30% of Burma’s children nationwide were moderately to severely malnourished in 2008. This in a country once described as “the rice bowl of Asia”.
And despite a severe HIV epidemic, the entire National AIDS Programme budget was some $200 000 in 2008. By contrast, the wedding of dictator Than Shwe’s daughter cost about $40 million—the inclusion of footage from that egregious spectacle gives Burma Soldier an appalling jolt. How timely is Burma Soldier in the wake of the 2010 elections and the release from house arrest of Aung San Suu Kyi? Terribly so. The election was neither free nor fair, and was the outcome of an equally rigged constitutional referendum held just days after Cyclone Nargis devastated the country. Fighting continues in ethnic areas, as do new refugee flows. And Aung San Suu Kyi is far from free. Her party is now banned, many key leaders languish in prison, and it is unclear if she will be allowed to leave Rangoon, the old capital. A massive privatisation wave has been underway in Burma—but the beneficiaries seem to be junta members in civilian dress, their families, and their cronies and business partners. True freedom and justice continue to elude the people of this ancient and cultured country. It took Myo Mint years of difficulty to find the courage to stand up to military rule. Yet the man Burma Soldier allows us to know is neither embittered nor defeated. He is free. One can only hope that this important and beautifully made film helps realise his hopes for a better day for the people of Burma.
Chris Beyrer [email protected]
www.thelancet.com Vol 377 January 29, 2011
productivity, and wastage of the current models. There is nothing unrealistic, far less unimaginable, in Barker’s vision of the future of medicine. Most readers will be quite familiar with the individual ideas, but Barker’s achievement is in
bringing them together powerfully and persuasively. The race is on for leadership in the new world of convergent health technology, and there’s not a moment to lose. The vision is lofty, the timescale ambitious, but we are invited to see a bigger
picture of the future of medicine, just as Bevan saw in his day from the podium at Park Hospital, so recently vacated by Glen Miller.
Gordon Duff g.w.duff@sheffield.ac.uk
In brief Film Taking a stand in Burma
Burma Soldier Directed by Nic Dunlop, Annie Sundberg, and Ricki Stern. A LeBrocquy Fraser/ Break Thru Films production for HBO, 2010. To be screened by HBO in May, 2011. http://www.breakthrufilms.org/ burma-soldier See Online for webvideo See Perspectives page 374
372
Burma Soldier tells the story of one man, Myo Mint, and his journey from teenage soldier to peace and democracy activist. In telling this courageous man’s story so well, filmmakers Nic Dunlop, Annie Sundberg, and Ricki Stern have done something remarkable—they have captured the history of modern Burma through one man’s life. Focusing on Myo Mint, and having him narrate his own awakening to the realities of Burma’s brutal civil conflict, Burma Soldier makes the seemingly intolerable suffering of the Burmese people under military rule both palpable and bearable for the viewer. And Dunlop’s still photography adds potent visual power and depth to the work. That the film ends with this severely disabled veteran reuniting with his lost family and even more committed to the struggle for freedom in his homeland is deeply encouraging. Burma Soldier hauntingly portrays life for ordinary citizens under the Tatmadaw, the Burmese military. This corrupt and illegitimate regime has held power in various formulations since General Ne Win’s coup of 1962. Like so many young Burmese, Myo Mint joins the military seeking a better life and employment. He does not question why Burma remains at war with herself, why ethnic nationalities are seen as enemies, or why the ruling generals insist on a complete monopoly of political power. A mortar shell injury sustained on a demining mission costs him an arm and a leg—and a discharge from
the Tatmadaw. Recovering, he begins to read. His growing awareness leads to a free library and a deepening interest in politics and peace. Pushing for change extracts a heavy price. For speaking out against military rule, Myo Mint is arrested, beaten, and finally imprisoned for 15 years in Burma’s gulag. He is not alone. Burma currently holds more than 2100 political prisoners, including members of Aung San Suu Kyi’s National League for Democracy, clergy of all faiths, ethnic leaders, journalists, and humanitarian relief workers imprisoned for independently responding to Burma’s Cyclone Nargis in 2008. Surviving prison, Myo Mint’s journey carries him to exile in Thailand. There he again begins a free library, and to speak and teach for freedom. Resettlement to the USA comes some years later—and a joyous reunion with siblings not seen in decades. So much of the suffering of Burma’s people is in this story. The rule of the generals has been marked by well documented brutality and corruption, and by the all encompassing nature of the system they maintain. An extractive economy based largely on selling Burma’s natural resources has enriched military families and cronies, but left Burma one of the least developed countries in Asia. Health-care spending by the government was less than US$1 per year per citizen in 2008. Some 30% of Burma’s children nationwide were moderately to severely malnourished in 2008. This in a country once described as “the rice bowl of Asia”.
And despite a severe HIV epidemic, the entire National AIDS Programme budget was some $200 000 in 2008. By contrast, the wedding of dictator Than Shwe’s daughter cost about $40 million—the inclusion of footage from that egregious spectacle gives Burma Soldier an appalling jolt. How timely is Burma Soldier in the wake of the 2010 elections and the release from house arrest of Aung San Suu Kyi? Terribly so. The election was neither free nor fair, and was the outcome of an equally rigged constitutional referendum held just days after Cyclone Nargis devastated the country. Fighting continues in ethnic areas, as do new refugee flows. And Aung San Suu Kyi is far from free. Her party is now banned, many key leaders languish in prison, and it is unclear if she will be allowed to leave Rangoon, the old capital. A massive privatisation wave has been underway in Burma—but the beneficiaries seem to be junta members in civilian dress, their families, and their cronies and business partners. True freedom and justice continue to elude the people of this ancient and cultured country. It took Myo Mint years of difficulty to find the courage to stand up to military rule. Yet the man Burma Soldier allows us to know is neither embittered nor defeated. He is free. One can only hope that this important and beautifully made film helps realise his hopes for a better day for the people of Burma.
Chris Beyrer [email protected]
www.thelancet.com Vol 377 January 29, 2011