Free Living Silence in Burma by Christina Fink

perform their jobs well, thesystem favoured those who did not challenge their superiors. Corruption was a far smaller crime than insubordination.
    General Ne Win had originally governed with the promise of efficiency and improving national welfare, but things were falling apart. Lower-level officials realized it was safer to report only what their superiors wanted to hear, often masking the severity of problems under their jurisdiction. At the same time, no one wanted to take responsibility for making decisions, for fear of being punished. Thus, civil servants and party functionaries tended to send even small issues up to higher levels, with the result that little effective work was actually carried out.
    The increasing presence of military intelligence agents, or MI, who functioned like a secret police in other countries, also dampened people’s desire to speak out about problems. Besides plainclothes intelligence agents, there were also informers in neighbourhoods and many workplaces. As a result, most people appeared to be obedient even if they didn’t have faith in the government’s policies.
    General Ne Win had originally shunned bringing religion into state affairs, both because of his government’s socialist ideology and because he wanted to rein in the influence of the monks. In 1962, monks were ordered to register with the government, a stipulation that was rejected on religious grounds as monks are perceived to be above the realm of worldly affairs. When some monks protested in Mandalay, the demonstration was broken up by troops, who shot several of the protesters. 10 In 1965, the regime organized a sangha (monks) conference, which established an official monks’ organization, the Sangha Maha Nayaka , and began registering all monks. Protesting monks were arrested, and several monasteries, where dissent was most fervent, were closed down.
    By the late 1960s, however, General Ne Win was beginning to demonstrate a more public interest in Buddhism. While this may have been a reflection of his faith, it was also a way to gain some legitimacy with the majority Burman Buddhist population, for whom religious practice was central to their identity. 11 General Ne Win also began looking to Buddhist merit-making, astrology and sympathetic magic in support of his political ambitions. This was not particularly surprising to most Burmese, who frequently turn to such practices themselves. As much as Buddhism might ask people to recognize that all attachment is suffering, most people are still concerned with their daily affairs; in particular, job security, health and the well-being of loved ones. They are looking for meaning and control over their lives, and by building pagodas and making merit in other ways, they hope to maintain or improve their status.
    At the same time, a belief in spirits, astrology and fortune-telling helps people make sense of why they get sick, why they get into trouble, and how to get out of these situations or prevent them altogether. Burmese parents have the astrological charts of their children calculated and written out soon after their birth. These charts indicate the general course of the child’s life, but mothers continue to have readings done at significant times for more specific predictions. Astrologers are consulted about the appropriate date for weddings, shop openings and Buddhist ordination ceremonies. People also seek out the services of other types of fortune-tellers, who make their predictions based on palm reading, intuition or other signs. Unlike in the West where fortune-tellers and astrologers almost exclusively emphasize the positive, fortune-tellers in Burma often predict life-threatening dangers, illness and other serious problems. Luckily, they also suggest measures ( yadaya ) that individuals can take to ward off these troubles.
    General Ne Win frequently appealed to fortune-tellers for advice on how to prolong his rule. On one occasion, he reportedly shot his image in a