မြန်မာ့စောင်း

It took me over 13 years to get my hands on this book, 'Harp of Burma,' written by Michio Takeyama with the aim of giving young Japanese readers hope after the devastation of World War II. It was first published in 1946. The English translation by Howard Hibbett was released 20 years later, in 1966.

By chance, I watched the film adaptation back in 2011 and fell in love with it. That was how I learnt about the book. The story is set during the World War II and follows the journey of a defeated Japanese troop in Burma, focusing on a private named Mizushima who chooses to stay behind with the desire to bury all the fallen Japanese soldiers' bodies.

What surprised me most upon reading the book is the ethos and beliefs of the general Burmese population, which the author highlights: the traditional Buddhist ideal of altruism. Of course, that has remained intact 78 years later (and still on....)

The author writes, 'Burma is a devoutly Buddhist country where the people are content with a very low standard of living. They are gentle people—without greed, or to put it less kindly, without ambition. That is one reason why they have lagged behind in the present-day world competition, despite their wealth in natural resources and their high level of education.

Although I am not very sure about the notion of greed bit these days, the lack of ambition, however, woefully still holds true for the general Burmese population.

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