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| Published: Aug.08.2006 @ 2:25 pm
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BOOK REVIEW
What it means to be Lao
Post-war Laos: The Politics of Culture, History and Identity by Vatthana Pholsena
Reviewed by Bertil Lintner
Who exactly is a Lao and why? Ethnically and linguistically, it would appear to be the wet-rice cultivating inhabitants of the Mekong River Valley and other lowland areas who speak various Tai languages and dialects.
But in an attempt to foster national unity in an ethnically diverse country - Laos' official population census lists 49 different ethnic
groups, while another, independent survey reveals a myriad 236 peoples and tribes - they are just the Lao Lum, literally "Lao of the plains".
Ethnic groups practicing slash-and-burn agriculture on hillsides and speaking Austro-Asiatic and Mon-Khmer languages are called Lao Theung, or "Lao of the mountain slopes". At even higher altitudes, the Lao Sung, or the "Lao of the mountaintops", cultivate hill paddies as well as opium poppies and speak Hmong- Yao and Sino-Tibetan languages. Together the Lao Lum comprise some 56% of the total population of 5.3 million, the Lao Theung 34%, and the Lao Sung 9%.
This classification was initiated in the 1950s by the then Royal Lao Government and is still being used today in the communist-run Lao People's Democratic Republic, although its founder, Kaysone Phomvihane, once deemed ethnic categorization to be anti-revolutionary. He emphasized national unity based on the conflicting concepts of cultural diversity and political control of ethnicity. In addition to the "indigenous" peoples, there are also large Vietnamese communities in the towns of the Mekong Valley as well as Chinese and a sprinkling of Indians.
Vatthana Pholsena's new study of Lao identity examines how the post-1975 communist regime has attempted to "construct a legitimizing nationalist discourse by imposing its own cultural preferences, view of history, and ethnic classification", or what makes multi-ethnic Laos a unified nation. She comes from one of Laos' most prominent political families - the Pholsenas - but grew up in France and earned her PhD from the University of Hull in the United Kingdom. She is now an assistant professor at the National University of Singapore.
With her own diverse background, Vatthana is well placed to analyze objectively the issue of Lao identity, and she does it extremely well. She outlines how the communists initially tried to eradicate "old" identities and replace them with a "socialist" one. But as Laos' experiment with socialism led to economic collapse - and the reintroduction of free trade and private enterprise - other traditional Lao values and beliefs also came back to life, but in a somewhat different shape and form. Buddhism and traditional Lao festivals as well as respect for the old royal family have been revived - alongside a cult of Kaysone and lavish celebrations on December 2, the anniversary of the day when the communists seized power in 1975.
And, in many ways, it is working. Laos today is a more unified state than it has ever been, or, as a member of one of the smaller ethnic groups in the country told Vatthana, "Our race is Lao, our blood is Lao, and our nationality is Lao." Educated members of the national minorities do not necessarily perceive their ethnic identity as one opposed to the majority.
At the same time, there are contradictory aspects of the identity of non-Tai-speaking Lao. The regime now calls for modernity and development, she argues, and therefore the question of identity and culture "is closely tied to the issue of overcoming 'backwardness'". The revolutionary war in the 1960s and early 1970s turned "backward tribes" into "revolutionaries" and "patriots". Seen in a broader perspective, it shows how political and social developments in any multi-ethnic country can create new identities.
Or, as Australian Lao scholar Martin Stuart-Fox says about the book: "Post-war Laos makes not only a contribution to the study of Lao identity, society and history, but also more broadly to the vexed problem of multiple identities among the peoples of Southeast Asia." Ordinary readers may find Vatthana's study heavy on the theoretical, yet it not only sheds light on nation-building in a small, little-known, multi-ethnic country, but is also a major contribution to the understanding of the complex issue of ethnic identity in Southeast Asia.
Significantly, she also builds on the scholarship of leading Lao expert Grant Evans, who has written widely on Lao culture, society and identity, shining new light on the ideology of Lao nationalism through examination of the relationships between majority and minority populations. She also nicely puts into cultural, historical and political context the often overlooked role of educated members of ethnic-minority groups.
The end of the Cold War did not lead to a new world order, an international community at peace with itself where social and political stability are the norm. Instead, ethnic conflicts, which had remained dormant for decades, have resurfaced, and Southeast Asia has become one of the most ethnically volatile parts of the world. There may be no significant ethnic conflict in Laos, apart from the government's decades-old low-intensity conflict with Hmong rebels. On the contrary, given its ethnic diversity, it remains surprisingly peaceful and harmonious, and Vatthana's book stands out as an excellent case study of the formation and definition of national identity and how state policies can shape a nation.
She argues that the legacy of pre-colonial Buddhist ideologies of ethnic identity, combined with the current regime's obsession with state control, "do not provide propitious conditions for the emergence of a liberal conception of multiculturalism". Cultural diversity may grow stronger if, or when, Laos becomes more democratic. That happened in Indonesia after the fall of Suharto in 1998, and it may happen in the future in Myanmar, another ethnically diverse country in the region. Or perhaps even one day in Laos.
Bertil Lintner is a former correspondent with the Far Eastern Economic Review, where he wrote extensively on Lao politics and economics. He is currently a writer with Asia-Pacific Media Services.
Post-war Laos: The Politics of Culture, History and Identity by Vatthana Pholsena. Nias Press, Copenhagen; Silkworm Books, Chiang Mai; Institute of Southeast Asian Studies, Singapore, 2006. ISBN 981-230-355-3. Price US$18, 256 pages. |
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| Published: Aug.08.2006 @ 2:24 pm
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Chinese flower power hits Thais
By Marwaan Macan-Markar
FANG, Thailand - On the misty hills of northern Thailand the chill in the air encourages roses to grow larger than apples. Hundreds of these large blooms - in colors ranging from red and crimson, to orange and white - are harvested daily to feed the flower markets of Bangkok.
Roses, carnations and chrysanthemums are part of a bouquet of 30 types of flowers that are commercially cultivated in this part of Thailand, which borders Myanmar.
"This is the peak production season for roses," said Suthat Pleumpanya, manager of a floral project initiated by Thailand's royal family to raise the standard of living of the rural poor. "They
bloom best between February and July. The elevation and the environment are very conducive to these flowers, especially the roses."
But there are signs the business in roses and carnations grown in Fang, which is 1,100 meters above sea level, may soon fade thanks to competition from growers in China's southern Yunnan province.
"In Chiang Mai [the province where Fang is located], we grow a lot of flowers, but now the growers are having a surplus because of the flowers coming from Kunming," the capital of Yunnan, said Chuntana Suwanthada, a horticulturist at the agriculture faculty in Chiang Mai University. "We are worried about the Chinese flowers overtaking ours."
She conceded that the flowers from China are cheaper and the "quality much better". It is a view echoed in the major flower markets in Bangkok, such as the sprawling Pak Klong Talat, on the banks of the Chao Phraya River. The women who run the flower shops, the market vendors and the street sellers say they have only Chinese roses to offer, in addition to imported carnations, lilies and gerberas.
"We have been getting a lot of Chinese flowers since two years ago," said Patthama Praephon, 53, as she opened a newly arrived box of red roses from China. "These will be going to the south, to Phuket and Songkhla."
Wholesale flower traders such as Patthama, who has been in the business for nearly 30 years, say the flowers from China are delivered within two days of placing the order. "Some of them may be more expensive, but they last longer and are more beautiful."
The Bangkok-based Kasikorn Research Center (KRC) has already warned that when the October 2003 free trade agreement (FTA) that Thailand signed with China is expanded to cover other products, the balance will tilt in favor of the flowers coming from Kunming, which has a climate described as "an eternal spring".
Such a reality will only add to the damage the FTA has caused to other agricultural products. The cheaper imports of garlic and onions from China in the wake of the agreement have put nearly 40% of Thai farmers out of business, says FTA Watch, a group made up of Thai activists opposed to such free trade deals. "About 50,000 farming households have been affected."
What Thai cut-flower growers are up against is a policy by Beijing to produce 4 billion cut-flower stems by 2010, up from 2 billion in 2000, according to available studies. "At present, China is the largest producer and consumer of cut-flowers in the world," the KRC said. "The sheer volume of China's cut flowers accounts for one-third of the world's production of cut flowers."
The savior for Thailand in the days ahead will be the country's orchids, said Chuntana. "We have a good variety and good quality and there is a high demand in foreign countries." These markets include the world flower capital, Amsterdam, and the United States. Thailand is the third-largest exporter of flowers to the US, after Mexico and the Netherlands.
Besides China and Thailand, the other Asian countries competing in the global flower market are Malaysia and India, while Japan's floriculture products largely cater to a domestic market.
Thailand has already set its sights on a major flower exhibition later this year to showcase its floral abundance that caters to foreign and local tastes. The event, to be held in Chiang Mai from November 6 to January 31, celebrates two events linked to the country's revered monarch King Bhumibol Adulyadej - his diamond jubilee on the throne and his 79th birthday.
The exhibition, due to have flowers and plants from foreign countries as well, is already being billed as a successor to a flower exhibition that has become a hit in Yunnan.
"Thailand could maintain the park as a new tourist attraction, as China did following the Kunming Horticulture Exposition in 1999 [which has attracted more than 2 million people]," Doek Faber, president of the International Association of Horticulture Producers, was quoted in the Bangkok Post recently.
The prospect of another slice of China in Thailand's world of flowers matters little to locals who buy roses, carnations, orchids and lotus to mark special occasions. Flowers are bought for visits to the temples, by students for their teachers to mark Teachers' Day, to be floated away in rivers and canals during the annual Loi Krathong festival, for Valentine's Day and weddings, among other events.
"The demand for flowers depends on the economy, but the people don't know where they come from," Pak Klong Talat flower vendor Samittupat Jarnlan said. "They don't ask. The Chinese flowers are here to stay."
(Inter Press Service) |
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