Welcome to Burma/Myanmar

[ahile]

Hello Ahile,
Welcome to this Asia section and to the club in general. I hope you'll enjoy it. Yes, you are the first Burmese in this section. Why don't you give us a brief introduction about your country? I'd love to know more about it. ;) ;) ;)

Hello LennyeTran,

First of all, thanks a lot for the warm welcome! :D

Well, to begin with, I suppose you already know a little about (Union of )Burma, also known as Myanmar.( I don't like the latter cos I know the junta wants to hide their evil doings by simply changing the name!) I don't know if I may speak about politics here, so I'll try not to give too much attention to the political aspects of Burma.

My country has been ruled by a military government since a coup in 1962 and is becoming an underdeveloped country. It has a population of approximately 54 million. Previously an independent kingdom, in 1886 Burma was annexed by the British Empire as a part of India. The Japanese invaded and occupied tmy country during World War II but it was retaken by the British in 1945. In 1948 we got our independence from the British(the nation became sovereign.).

Apart from this military government, Burma is, I believe, a really beautiful place to visit. It has some quite wonderful beaches along the Ocean. If you have a sense of adventure, you'll find the Burmese jungles fascinating and you'll probably want to live in the jungles for the rest of your life! No big talk, this is real! :)

OK, let me think, what else is there to tell about my country.....
Aaa, I shouldn't forget this one to tell. Burma has mainly eight different nationalities (or ethnics): Chin, Kachin, Kayin, Kayah, Mon, Rakhine, Shan and Burma. Burma is the majority group and the other 7 are minority ethnics.

And I am a Chin ethnic.

If there is something, not mentioned above here, you want to know, feel free to ask me. :D


Well, I hope I serve you well by this petite description of my country. ;)

[MissLT]

And I am a Chin ethnic.

Is that short for Chinese or something else?

[ahile]

And I am a Chin ethnic.

Is that short for Chinese or something else?

Hi Lennye,

First of all, how are you doing?

In case, you ask me.... I am pretty fine. Only a bit snowed under with my school stuff.


All right, here is the answer to your question!

No. We, Chin, have nothing whatsoever to do with Chinese. We are an absolutely different folk. We have our own Chin language, not a single word is similar to Chinese's.

I think I'd better give you a rough guide to Chin history.

During British Empire, a lot of missionaries from Great Britain as well as the States came to the Chin territories (especially, the mountain areas) and taught our ancestors about Christianity. A majority of our ancestors had been illiterate at that time. Although there were(/existed) already some different written languages among Chin people, it had been very hard for them to learn and use them for communication. Moreover, there had been disagreement among them too as to which one to acknowledge as the common written language. For this reason, the missionaries suggested that the Chin language should be written in Roman alphabet. And so Chin language has since been written in Roman alphabet.





An extra info, the official language in Burma/Myanmar is the Burmese language. ( ! The other languages are oppressed and teaching and learning them officially in school is forbiddenl.!)


P.S. Feel free to ask whatever you want to know about my country.

You are most welcome!


Edited to add a couple of useful Chin websites. Here you'll find interesting information on Chinland and its people, culture etc,.

http://www.chinforum.org (I find this website is the most trustworthy one.)

http://www.flag.de/FOTW/flags/mm-chin.html

[Chet Baker]

Thank you ahile for your information

[MissLT]

I think I'd better give you a rough guide to Chin history.

During British Empire, a lot of missionaries from Great Britain as well as the States came to the Chin territories (especially, the mountain areas) and taught our ancestors about Christianity. A majority of our ancestors had been illiterate at that time. Although there were(/existed) already some different written languages among Chin people, it had been very hard for them to learn and use them for communication. Moreover, there had been disagreement among them too as to which one to acknowledge as the common written language. For this reason, the missionaries suggested that the Chin language should be written in Roman alphabet. And so Chin language has since been written in Roman alphabet.

So Chin people now are mostly mixed, right?

[ahile]

Thank you ahile for your information

You are most welcome!

It's all my pleasure.


Nice to meet you, Chet Baker!


See you round,

[ahile]

I think I'd better give you a rough guide to Chin history.

During British Empire, a lot of missionaries from Great Britain as well as the States came to the Chin territories (especially, the mountain areas) and taught our ancestors about Christianity. A majority of our ancestors had been illiterate at that time. Although there were(/existed) already some different written languages among Chin people, it had been very hard for them to learn and use them for communication. Moreover, there had been disagreement among them too as to which one to acknowledge as the common written language. For this reason, the missionaries suggested that the Chin language should be written in Roman alphabet. And so Chin language has since been written in Roman alphabet.

So Chin people now are mostly mixed, right?

Oh! I see you are a bit confused. That's my fault becuase I didn't tell you that there are more than one tribe among Chin people. The name "Chin" includes all tribes of Chin people-that is.

I am not that good in history. But, so far as I know, there are about 32 different tribes among Chin. And of course we have different dialects, some are so different that one can't understand even a word they're saying. Hence, the common language we use to communicate with each other is Burmese or English.
But, as stated before, each Chin language is written in Roman alphabet.

By the way, my tribe is called "Siyang". But, don't mix with other Siyangs in Asia. I am 100% sure we are not the same tribe.

The dialect, among other Chin dialects, I can speak perfectly is called "Tadim." Tadim and my mother tongue Siyang is the most, I guess, similar Chin dialect.



I hope I clear your confusion by the above.

As said, however, don't hesitate to ask me whatever you want to.

I am very glad to help you with your questions.


See ya round,