ဇန်နဝါရီ ၃၁ ရက်
Do you believe in omens/superstitions?
I like to believe that I do not. Well, I still want to keep it that way as much as possible. However, sometimes I went off the rails and challenged my beliefs from time to time.
Let’s talk about the date, the 31st of January. There seems to be so much hype around this very date, and I can’t shake off the thoughts.
Before the military intervention, this date would have been considered nothing more than a mere ordinary day by the general public, myself included. But surely there will always be an exception for some of those who regard the date as their personal day, whether a birthday or sentimental anniversary too.
Now, I do not think it will be wrong to say the date has marked the end of peace and prosperity. It has also ended happiness, and much more importantly, the vitally needed semi-democracy for the people in Burma.
Perhaps these are all coincidences, or it’s my craziness acting up itself.
I personally find this fascinating and enjoy the pleasure of claiming that the head of the ruling party, SAC, also likes to play around with this very date. It’s an obvious fact that he has been desperate to hold an election this year in the hope to legitimise their hold on power and had forcefully conducted the countrywide census, of which the deadline unsurprisingly happened to be the 31st of January.
One can argue that it could have been the fact that the 2008 Constitution says the chief of the armed forces can impose emergency rule for one year and renew it twice for six months each. The SAC has already renewed each emergency rule twice, and the recent renewal will expire in February this year. The 2008 Constitution also adds that the election must be held within six months of that date. Okay, but the question here is why the end of the census operation must be on that exact 31st of January while the date of the election day remains widely and publicly unknown.
Furthermore, the SAC and his ruling party had bombarded the general public with text messages through the respective mobile operators and by state-owned media channels in the country to register the mobile SIM cards with proper identification. This deadline was extended to complete on, again, the 31st of January.
Anyhow, I should be worried about if this ever takes effect because my SIM is registered under somebody else’s identification, whether false or genuine identification. Only God will know, but I will give the benefit of the doubt here.
Let’s rewind a bit and go back to the time of corona madness because I, too, have a personal account regarding this date. Perhaps, one could have labelled that it was an omen, and if it was, stupidly enough, I took it lightly.
It was when this notoriously dangerous manmade virus, call it controversial but that’s what the vast majority still believe, unmercifully shook our ordinary lives and swept off millions of people’s lives from all walks of life around the globe. It was also when we coped well with the apprehensiveness about the virus, confined ourselves willingly to our dear home, adopted the practice of prudent handwashing habits, and forced ourselves to follow all those do-this-do-that rules without questioning. The time was way too intense and crazy.
Towards the end of the year 2020, I took the liberality of a work-from-home setup and resided by the sea together with my family, leaving behind the hostile and yet dreadfully insane seasoned Yangonees and the city. We were spared from the mismatched concoctions of noises and the virus, but not from the great unknown that was lurking at the corner to take all of us by surprise later.
I picked up a new hobby at the seaside and joined the weekly Sunday clean-up organised by a local benevolent organisation called “Trash Heroes”. I proactively participated and enjoyed the activities, but sadly, that enjoyment did not last long.
Rumours had it back then about the coup, but no one seemed to take it seriously. I even whatsapped my friend in the UK, that said never have a dull moment in Myanmar; aside from covid drama, there are concerns mounting over a potential military coup now.
In short, the 31st of January came, and it was Sunday. The day was no different from the previous Sundays apart from this noteworthy incident. I noticed a kid who was playing with a small triangle-shaped banner flag that washed up on the shore. It was a bloody green colour! He waved it, ran along the beach, and yelled “our matters” three times. I was astonished by his audacity in this unexpected action thus I scolded him. Now, come to think of it; I wish I had known what was around the corner back then.
1st Feb came, and you know the rest.
If one could take it as an omen and suppose that I could make a countermeasure, I would find that bloody kid again, and ask him to fly a red triangle flag and cry out loud, “Regime has ended.”
Call me crazy if you want, but why the 31st of January. Well… here is my theory, it’s that bloody ကိုးနဝင်း (the lucky no 9). The date 31 means 3 + 1 = 4. The year is 23 which also adds up to 2 + 3 = 5. Now if you will please excuse me to put two and two together and make five, 3 + 1 + 2 + 3 = 9.
If you are ever so not sure about the difference between omens and superstitions, here is the best explanation from wiki – superstition is a belief, not based on human reason or scientific knowledge, that future events may be influenced by one’s behaviour in some magical or mystical way while omen is something which protends or is perceived to protend a good or evil event or circumstance in the future; an augury or foreboding.