No Country For Young Talent?
On the campaign trail in 2015, Daw Aung San Suu Kyi had called for Myanmars based abroad to come back and contribute their skill set back home-a call which she and others alike felt would be answered. Tapping in to the reservoir of Myanmar talent overseas seemed a sensible call to make, and one which people felt would pay off given than a new, democratic regime spearheaded by a beloved icon. What could stop this?
As it turns out, the greatest obstacles to this is one of the oldest-a persistent bubonic plague where the boils are elitist conservatism and unchecked ego is the fever.
Consider what had just transpired at the Myanmar Motion Picture Academy Awards. Netizens were outraged that the couple of Christina and Zenn Kyi has failed to win any prizes (let alone for best director and best leading actor categories), being snubbed in favour of candidates most felt had been less deserving. The film that won best screenplay, in particular, was lambasted for being an alleged rip off of The Golden Lotus, a 1974 Hong Kong erotic film. Critics pointed out how it was absurd that Christina Kyi’s Mudras Calling, a film which had garnered widespread international praise and commendation, had failed to win courtesy of a judging panel many perceived to have been biased against the celebrated upstart couple. Myanmar’s social media, clearly, had crowned their own winners.
Brilliant stinging memes and hashtags aside, the Kyis’ snubbing points to a much wider problem-the persistent overlooking and undervaluing of young talent within the country by those of the establishment. This undermining is not limited to the arts alone; the status quo is still a massive glass ceiling on those hungry to make change. Local and repatriate Myanmar youths that don’t have establishment elites on speed dial or recognizable family connections continuing facing massive hurdles in the form of rampant bureaucracy, partiality and, in cases such as this, blatant undermining.
Whilst efforts have undoubtedly been made, such as the government’s release of the National Youth Policy the previous year, it should be realized that old habits really do die hard. The State Counsellor has repeatedly emphasized how important the youth (which make up an estimated third of the country’s population) are to Myanmar’s future. Yet rhetoric has not translated fully into action-at least in the pace that the majority of Myanmar’s younger, hungrier population had hoped for.
What is most galling here is the continued perception (from both leaders and even among swathes of youths themselves) that the current state of ‘promoting’ young talent is adequate. This simply could not be further from the truth. The majority of Myanmar’s establishment leaders-political, business and social alike-seem unable to escape the urge to direct and dictate to young talent HOW they should go about their pursuits, instead of allowing free reign through ready backing and cooperation.
Everyone loves condescendingly talking up young talent and ‘youth leadership’-how important and vital they are to the future, of how this generation will lead. Savvy business and media leaders sponsor youth ‘leadership forums’ and events that put the same faces on massive platforms to drone on about abstract issues that, for the majority of the time, can’t be immediately addressed. These ‘token house youths’ have made careers out of this, and in turn become part of the very same problematic system of condescending faux promotion they had sought to condemn.
This crippling hypocrisy is evident more so in the political arena. The ongoing Yangon municipal elections are a welcome development (though not perfect, as will be discussed in the future). However on the whole, youths are treated like sideshow attractions by the primary parties-their presence mere ticks in the box to satisfy illusory requirements.
As it stands, they’re there mostly to push pamphlets, meekly pose for photo ops, and act as background noise. Dissenting opinion is still silenced, and disillusionment is rampant among youth cadres. And that is among those in constant contact AND fully registered as party members. Among talented, far sighted young Myanmar men and women both at home and abroad cursed with not having pre-existing connections, this disillusionment is preventing them from being politically active. They are fearful of bureaucratic repercussion and a dilution of their aims. Mark these words: the political institution that makes effective use of the youth is the one to stand the test of time.
How can a status quo that continually takes the heart away from the youth in contributing to meaningful change be allowed to persist?
Brushing it away as ‘This is Myanmar’ is the expected response. No, this isn’t Myanmar-at least not for those youths that run into stone walls. This is the Myanmar for those that seek to cower behind the comforts of elitism, ego and lack of foresight. The rhetoric of the youth being vital for tomorrow does not mean that they aren’t important today.
