Irrawaddy: Burma’s watered down festival

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Thingyan, Burma’s traditional New Year’s water festival, starts on Wednesday, and military junta chief Snr-Gen Than Shwe and his family are already rolling up their sleeves to celebrate the five-day holiday in the capital Naypyidaw.This year, Than Shwe’s business cronies will sponsor all the festive activities in Naypyidaw. Several members of the military top brass, delegations from the respective government ministries and major businessmen will make appearances, as well as many of the country’s top pop singers and traditional dancers.

Than Shwe may see the festival as a celebration of the near completion of his seven-step “road map to democracy.”

Than Shwe’s favorite grandson, Nay Shwe Thway Aung, gets top billing on the festival circuit. The 19-year-old will appear at festivities in Naypyidaw, Rangoon and Mandalay.

According to a source in Rangoon, Than Shwe’s grandson will host his own pavilion on Prome Road near Inya Lake in Rangoon, bypassing rules laid down by the Yangon [Rangoon] City Development Committee (YCDC) and the SPDC Rangoon Division.

Many rich kids in Rangoon—notably Phyoe Tay Za and Htet Tay Za, the sons of Burmese tycoon Tay Za—will join in the clubhouse atmosphere alongside Nay Shwe Thway Aung, the source said.
It’s a time of fun, as the late Burmese author Khin Myo Chit wrote, “to have nice clean fun with dear friends, sprinkling scented water on one another … all the teasing and playing and joking go with the spirit of the season.”

Unfortunate then that Thingyan is severely restricted for the common people of Burma.
The YCDC announced no less than 39 rules governing participants in the water festival in Rangoon. On top of all the other restrictions, the YCDC is limiting the location of pavilions. Rangoon’s youngsters are not allowed to build pavilions along University Avenue and Inya Road, the venues where the crowd usually flocks.