Burma: waiting for the dawn, Kyi May Kaung

1988 was one of those cataclysmic years that resulted in a supernova or stellar explosion, with an associated release of tremendous cosmic energy. The convulsions of politics may seem small by comparison, but for the Burmese people who rose against their military rulers on 8 August 1988 the coincidence is telling. The twentieth anniversary of "8-8-88" is marked with the junta still in power, its repressive apparatus entrenched; but for those who remember or took part in the epic events of that time, the energy and the inspiration remain indelible. Kyi May Kaung is an analyst based in Washington DC. She is on the Technical Advisory Network of the National Coalition Government of the Union of Burma (NCGUB), Burma's democratic government-in-exile. Her blog is here Also by Kyi May Kaung in openDemocracy: "Burma's struggle, Aung... [read full story]