A GROUP of middle-aged men seated around a U-shaped table look absorbed. Soldiers in uniform alternate with civilians in longyis—the Burmese version of a sarong. A couple of women sit at the back, scribbling notes. The committee created to organise celebrations for the 70th anniversary of Burmese independence is working at full steam: it has spent the day creating subcommittees (nine in total). Fireworks, dinner, the president’s address: everything seems to be an excuse to set up a committee. One will organise the flag-hoisting ceremony; another will prepare the invitations for it. Who will ultimately send them has yet to be resolved—a job for another committee, no doubt.
Governments all over the world make use of committees to defer tricky decisions or make work for bureaucrats, but in Myanmar the craze is reaching new heights. The country’s protracted peace process with ethnic militias has generated an impressive edifice of deliberation. The troubles in...Continue reading
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