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ABSTRACT
This article focuses on the contested, and frequently postponed, construction of a new parliament house in postcolonial Myanmar. Since the late colonial period, the country’s legislative bodies have convened in four different buildings, three located in the former capital Yangon and the latest one in Naypyitaw. Drawing on legislative proceedings and media reports, this study interrogates the relationship between decolonisation, national identity, state-building, and public architecture in post-independence Myanmar. It suggests that the commissioning and construction of a new legislative house has always served a dual objective: projecting state power and national pride in both Myanmar’s early postcolonial and later post-junta political contexts, whilst symbolising a sense of nationhood grounded on the representational ideals of the dominant and ruling ethnic Bamar elites.
Acknowledgments
The author would like to thank Christina Fink, Robert Taylor, Bilal Raschid, David Steinberg, Soe Thwin Tun, Thant Myint-U, the editors and the two anonymous reviewers for their constructive comments.
Disclosure statement
No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author.
Notes
1 Interview with author, Naypyitaw, January 2014. Su Su Lwin was first elected to the lower house in April 2012, as NLD representative for Thongwa, a rural constituency north of Yangon.
2 For linguistic simplicity and without any political connotation, I use the English adjectives ‘Burmese’ and ‘Burman’. ‘Burmese’ refers to the citizenship and common language of the people of present-day Myanmar, while ‘Burman’ more specifically designates the ethnic Bamar majority of the country, where non-Burman ethnic minorities, such as the Karens and Kachins, also dwell. Myanmar is the country's official post-1989 appellation, and admitted as such henceforth. ‘Yangon’ is the vernacular term for the English ‘Rangoon’.
3 Before 1897, the head of the colonial executive and leading administrator of British Burma had only the rank of ‘Chief Commissioner’. Burma was elevated to lieutenant-governorship in 1897, and governorship in 1923.
4 Although the Lieutenant-Governor initially resided in the Government House, located in the north-western outskirts of Yangon.
5 The Burman, 29 January 1946, p. 1. The meeting took place instead at Yangon's City Hall, Corporation Building.
6 A description is provided here: ‘Session opens with swearing’ (Citation1956).
7 Another useful description, with pictures, is provided in: New Times of Burma, 3 July 1956, p. 1.
8 New Times of Burma, 14 September 1956, p. 4.
9 New Times of Burma, 11 September Citation1957, p. 4.
10 The Nation, 17 September Citation1960, p. 1.
11 For instance, read the long debate on the topic between four MPs (Ba Pe, Tharrawaddy U Pu, O. DeGlanville and Ba Shin) in a 1930 session of the Legislative Council: Burma Legislative Council Proceedings (Rangoon), Vol. 17, No. 3, 18 February 1930, pp. 169–178.
12 Gustaaf Houtman prefers the term of ‘Myanma-fication’ in the post-1988 context (Houtman, Citation1999).
13 Since independence, the ethnic Bamar majority has represented about two-thirds of Myanmar's total population.
14 New Times of Burma, 16 February 1958, p. 1.
15 The Guardian (daily), 17 September Citation1960, p. 8.
16 The Nation, 17 September 1960, p. 1.
17 The Nation, 24 July Citation1961, p. 1.
18 The Nation, 24 July Citation1961.
19 New Times of Burma, 14 September 1956, p. 4.
20 The Nation, 17 September 1960, p. 1.
21 The Guardian (daily), 17 September Citation1960, pp. 1, 8.
22 A scale model of this rejected proposal is pictured in The Guardian (daily), 30 June 1961, p. 1.
23 The Nation, 29 July 1961, p. 4.
24 The Nation, 24 July 1961, p. 1.
25 Which is the end was not selected either. Author's interview with Bilal Raschid, Washington DC, November 2016.
26 The Nation, 12 December 1961, p. 1.
27 The Nation, 12 December 1961.
28 Damaged by an earthquake in the early 1970s, the colonial-era presidential palace was soon after flattened.
29 It now houses the regional government and parliament of Yangon. Visitors can observe the complex from a distance when driving along Pyay Road and Ahlone Street.
30 Since 1974, Myanmar is administratively divided into seven states and seven divisions (or ‘regions’ after 2008); Working People's Daily, 9 February Citation1974, p. 1.
31 The Guardian (daily), 5 November Citation1985, p. 1.
32 Already in 1978 the Minister for Construction was picture in the Working People's Daily inspecting the foundational work. Working People's Daily, 28 October Citation1978, p. 1.
33 Working People's Daily, 10 January 1993. When it reconvened in 2004, the National Convention was transferred to the township of Hmawbi, some 60 kms north of Yangon.
34 Interview, Naypyitaw, January 2014.
35 Interview with an ethnic Rakhine MP, Naypyitaw, January 2014. ‘ana-deh’ is hardly translatable in non-Burmese languages. It refers to a situation in which a Burmese wishes to say something or behave in some way but is prevented from doing so for various social, cultural, and physical reasons. The concept plays a key role in the shaping of interpersonal relationships in modern Myanmar.
36 Interview, Naypyitaw, August 2013.
37 Interview, Naypyitaw, June 2016.