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MEDIA-BURMA: Exiled Cartoonists Deliver Darts With a Smile

Iris Lee

BANGKOK, Nov 13 2006 (IPS) - They have completely different styles, but they are bound by a common goal – a free Burma.

“Even if we don’t see the riverbank, we still have to swim to reach the other side,” murmurs Burmese cartoonist-in-exile Harn Lay during an interview. While he does not see the light at the end of the tunnel for his country at the moment, he is still hopeful.

This is a sentiment shared by New York-based Win Tun who, in an e- mail interview, said he believes he will one day be reunited with his family in Burma.

The works of the two cartoonists, being shown in a month-long exhibition at the Foreign Correspondents Club of Thailand (FCCT) here in Bangkok, are aimed at creating more awareness – through images, humour and irony – about the plight of their country, which has been under military rule for decades. The show ends Nov. 30.

Harn Lay was in his early 20s when the pro-democracy uprising against the military in 1988 took place, sending thousands into exile and putting Burma in the international headlines. The crisis ended with a bloody military crackdown which left scores, mostly students killed, injured, or jailed.

Having studied fine arts at the School of Fine Arts Academy in Rangoon, Harn Lay never imagined that he would eventually move on from illustrating cinema billboards to witty, funny yet blunt portrayals of reality.

“I used to do just line art, that is, very simple, black-and- white drawings. But I thought that people are more attracted to coloured cartoons. The funnier, the more colourful, the better,” says Harn Lay, who is known for his amusing and vibrant cartoons as shown in the Chiang Mai-based ‘The Irrawaddy’ magazine, where he is editorial cartoonist.

One of his memorable cartoons is that of Burmese leader Senior Gen. Than Shwe holding a birthday cake with candles that completely shut in detained opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi, leader of the National League for Democracy party whose victory in the 1990 election was never recognised by the military.

The cartoon, commemorating her 60th birthday and her 17th year under house arrest, has since featured in a textbook released by the Indian National Council of Educational Research and Training and used by ninth grade political science students.

In stark contrast is Win Tun’s style- the more familiar black-and- white, traditional cartoon. Popularly known as ‘Mr Burma’ after the English-language daily ‘Bangkok Post’ published his first cartoon outside Burma, 53-year-old Win Tun was a freelance cartoonist for several journals and magazines in Burma.

After receiving warnings from the government for his cartoons’ anti-establishment content, he went into exile in 1990 and drew under the ‘Mr Burma’ pseudonym. When the Burmese government discovered his true identity, Win Tun was blacklisted. In 1995, he and his wife fled to the United States as political refugees. His mother, some brothers and sisters were left behind.

The government still issues warnings about his cartoons on the ‘Faxtoon’ website and the Voice of Burma bulletin. However, this does not scare him. “I do not care how they (the government) could bother me, because I believe that I’m doing the right thing for my country,” Win Tun said.

Like Win Tun, Harn Lay takes these threats in his stride. Both have embraced the difficulties that come with living in exile.

For Harn Lay, being free to express himself as an artist is like a breath of fresh air. “Although it’s hard to live away from one’s country, at least I can draw whatever I feel like, especially when it concerns Burmese politics,” says Harn Lay who tries to keep in touch with relatives no matter how difficult.

Win Tun, meanwhile, says everything is fine where they are. “I am also learning a lot about how their system works here (in the United States). I hope someday we will be able to set up a good system for my country. That is my dream…,” he says.

Both believe that cartoons are powerful means of delivering a message to the world, especially with regard to peace and freedom.

Explains Win Tun: “Cartoons are a very effective and peaceful method to point out the mistakes and unfair practices of people. (This is why) I always try to use language in my cartoons, for the government and all the Burmese people for them to read and notice. Because sometimes cartoons without words do not have as strong an impact than those with words.”

Harn Lay is aware of this medium’s power and says that his and his colleagues’ cartoons somehow find their way to Burma. “It’s not easy to distribute political cartoons in the country, but I have heard that these are being photocopied and circulated in Burma,” he says.

Harn Lay’s best piece may even have reached the hands of the junta’s highest officials. This cartoon, a satire on the Burmese government’s dam projects, shows a military official gloating over the new sources of electricity, but holding a fan in his hand in a room that has a light bulb that does not work.

Asked why the dream of a free Burma has been so elusive, Win Tun opines that the country needs a “new kind of medicine or a cure”, especially when treating a “disease” such as the military.

Harn Lay says it does not help that many countries still maintain close ties with the junta-led government because this legitimises their rule. “The regime is supported by neighbouring countries through trade and business, which makes it hard for pro-democracy groups campaigning for a free Burma.”

Commenting on the U.N. Security Council’s initiative to finally open formal discussions about Burma, Win Tun says, “The U.N. can do so many things if they (really) want to.”

The FCCT exhibit, according to Shan Women’s Action Network (www.shanwomen.org) activist Nang Hseng Noung will be just one of many future exhibits for Burma’s cartoonists-in- exile.

“This early, someone has already asked if these cartoons can travel and we said, hey, why not?'” says Nang Hseng Noung.

The exhibit also features works by Harn Lay and Win Tun’s fellow cartoonists, Kham Pang and Shwe Mahn. The organisers said that they wanted to get a woman cartoonist, but the only one they know is living in Burma.