Tuesday, October 13, 2009

Having a nice time


Yesterday I got my first visitor from Myanmar, or Burma as many western people and media still want to call the country. We used Myanmar when I worked in Asia Pacific 15 years ago, and remember how difficult many Caucasians had to stop using Peking and Bombay as names for Beijing and Mumbai.

Maybe the ignorance of a country´s official name has to do with the opposition politician Aung San Suu Kyi and the belief that with her in position the name Burma will reoccur.
The name "Burma" is derived from the Burmese word "Bamar" (ဗမာ), which in turn is the colloquial form of Myanmar (မြန်မာ) (or Mranma in old Burmese), both of which historically referred to the majority Burmans (or the Bamar). Depending on the register used, the pronunciation would be “Bama” or Myanmah. The name “Burma” has been in use in English since the time of British colonial rule. The BBC recommends /mjænˈmɑ/ or /mjænˈmɑr/ .

In 1989, the military government officially changed the English translations of many colonial-era names, including the name of the country, to "Myanmar"
In addition to the Flag of Myanmar I post you greetings from the lovely Palma de Mallorca, where I am for a few days having Sobrassada, Pata Negra de Bellota and other local and international dishes in temperatures much warmer than in Oslo.

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