• Burmese
Tuesday, July 15, 2025
No Result
View All Result
NEWSLETTER
The Irrawaddy
29 °c
Yangon
  • Home
  • News
    • Burma
    • Politics
    • World
    • Asia
    • Myanmar’s Crisis & the World
    • Ethnic Issues
    • War Against the Junta
    • Junta Cronies
    • Conflicts In Numbers
    • Junta Watch
    • Fact Check
    • Investigation
    • Myanmar-China Watch
    • Obituaries
  • Politics
  • Business
  • Opinion
    • Commentary
    • Guest Column
    • Analysis
    • Editorial
    • Stories That Shaped Us
    • Letters
  • Junta Watch
  • Ethnic Issues
  • War Against the Junta
  • In Person
    • Interview
    • Profile
  • Books
  • Donation
  • Home
  • News
    • Burma
    • Politics
    • World
    • Asia
    • Myanmar’s Crisis & the World
    • Ethnic Issues
    • War Against the Junta
    • Junta Cronies
    • Conflicts In Numbers
    • Junta Watch
    • Fact Check
    • Investigation
    • Myanmar-China Watch
    • Obituaries
  • Politics
  • Business
  • Opinion
    • Commentary
    • Guest Column
    • Analysis
    • Editorial
    • Stories That Shaped Us
    • Letters
  • Junta Watch
  • Ethnic Issues
  • War Against the Junta
  • In Person
    • Interview
    • Profile
  • Books
  • Donation
No Result
View All Result
The Irrawaddy
No Result
View All Result
Home From the Archive

Britain is Still Being Beastly to its Former Colony Myanmar

Kyaw Phyo Tha by Kyaw Phyo Tha
July 24, 2019
in From the Archive
Reading Time: 4 mins read
0 0
A A
British Foreign Secretary Boris Johnson hits a bell while visiting Shwedagon Pagoda in Yangon. / Reuters

British Foreign Secretary Boris Johnson hits a bell while visiting Shwedagon Pagoda in Yangon. / Reuters

9.6k
VIEWS
Share on FacebookShare on Twitter

In late 2017, Britain’s then Foreign Minister Boris Johnson made headlines when, standing on the grounds of Shwedagon Pagoda, he launched into an impromptu recital of a colonial-era poem, only to be interrupted by the British ambassador’s warning that the recital was “not appropriate”. The gaffe took place against the backdrop of London’s hardline stance toward State Counselor Daw Aung San Suu Kyi over her perceived unwillingness to speak out on the Rohingya crisis. With Johnson set to take over as British prime minister, we revisit this commentary on the historical context of his gaffe. It was first published on Oct. 4, 2017.

YANGON—There is usually no harm in reciting lines or verses from your favorite poems. But it can matter what you read, where you read it, and who you are. If you are not careful, you could make a gaffe or insult those around you. Take the British Foreign Secretary Boris Johnson, for example.

When the Foreign Secretary visited Myanmar’s Shwedagon Pagoda earlier this year during an official trip to Myanmar, the 53-year old Conservative Party member tolled a huge bell and recited lines from the poem Mandalay by Rudyard Kipling: “The temple-bells they say/ Come you back, you English soldier.” (In fact, “Bojo” made a mistake, it’s British, not English in the poem.)

RelatedPosts

Anti-Coup Icon Explains Urgent Call for NUG Reform

Anti-Coup Icon Explains Urgent Call for NUG Reform

July 11, 2025
426
Myanmar Junta Trains Staff on Electronic Voting Machines Across the Country

Myanmar Junta Trains Staff on Electronic Voting Machines Across the Country

July 8, 2025
813
Malaria Cases Rise in Western Myanmar 

Malaria Cases Rise in Western Myanmar 

July 2, 2025
674

His impromptu recital was recorded and featured in a documentary on Britain’s Channel 4. In the video, Boris Johnson was interrupted by British ambassador to Myanmar who said “probably not a good idea” and “not appropriate” in a stern voice after reminding the Foreign Secretary he was on microphone.

Yes, it is inappropriate and insensitive for Boris Johnson to recite those lines in a country that was colonized by the British from 1824 to 1948.

To make matters worse, the person uttering “come you back, you English soldier” was not just an ordinary citizen but the Foreign Secretary from the country that annexed Myanmar through three bloody wars and oppressed local resistance.

Were it not for UK Ambassador Andrew Patrick’s interruption, the Foreign Secretary may have continued with the lines “Bloomin’ idol made o’ mud / Wot they called the Great Gawd Budd / Plucky lot she cared for idols when I kissed ‘er where she stud!”

Referring to the Buddha as the “Great Gawd Budd” at one of the holiest Buddhist sites in the country would have been an act of sacrilege.

Who knows why the Foreign Secretary uttered lines from the colonial poem. Probably, he is a great fan of Rudyard Kipling or felt nostalgic for the age of British imperialism. Whatever the case, a British Foreign Secretary’s recitation of the colonial poem in the country where they once colonized is an insult to the country and hurts the feeling of its people.

Adding to Myanmar people’s dismay, the release of the video footage coincides with a time when Britain, along with many other countries, has been actively criticizing the Southeast Asian country and its popular leader Daw Aung San Suu Kyi for the country’s treatment of the self-identifying Rohingya issue, which is in face the result of a bad colonial legacy left by the British to Myanmar people.

If the British hadn’t encouraged Bengali inhabitants from Bengal Province of India (now Bangladesh) to migrate into the then sparsely populated and fertile valleys of Rakhine in the 1800s, Myanmar today would be in a very different position in the controversial issue.

While the British government has been repeatedly criticizing the Lady for her silence on the issue as well as for not doing enough to defend the minority self-identifying Rohingya, St Hugh’s college of Oxford University, where she studied politics, philosophy and economics between 1964 and 1967, removed the painting of the Nobel laureate from its main entrance as the college received the gift of a new painting. It’s questionable why the portrait was taken down amid criticism on Daw Aung San Suu Kyi’s on the issue.

On Tuesday, Oxford City Council withdrew an honor granting Aung San Suu Kyi the Freedom of Oxford as it was “no longer appropriate” for her to hold it given to her response to the self-identifying Rohingya issue.

Of course it would be annoying for Daw Aung San Suu Kyi to see those kind of responses from the UK, which was in some ways her second home, spending nearly two decades studying and raising a family there with her late British husband.

For the majority of the Myanmar people, the actions of Oxford City Council and Oxford University were deliberate insults to the woman whom they have elected as their leader.

It’s interesting to ask why Britain’s government and civil organizations are united in humiliating Myanmar and its leader unlike many other western countries like the US, which is taking a much more supportive role by offering assistance to implement the recommendations made by the Rakhine State Advisory Commission to help the country tackle an issue spawned by British colonial rule.

Is Britain under the mistaken impression that it has the right to bully the country because it once colonized it?

Rather than pointing fingers at Myanmar, the British should be mindful that when it comes to the self-identifying Rohingya issue, their forebears were responsible for the encouragement of mass migration from India to Myanmar for cheap farm labor. It should be noted that they did it for the interests of British Empire, especially after the opening of the Suez Canal in 1869 when rice demand was high in Europe.

Myanmar had no chance to solve the problem of migration encouraged by Britain under authoritarian rule from 1962 to 2010. The former quasi-civilian government made little success in tackling the issue despite their efforts after 2012.

Undaunted, the country’s first democratically elected Daw Aung San Suu Kyi’s government is now trying to fix it amid other problems the country is facing such as bringing peace with ethnic armed groups. Please be aware that Daw Aung San Suu Kyi’s government is just 18 months old.

It is very unfair to today’s Myanmar, struggling to cope with the problems the British left behind while being criticized by those responsible who ignored their wrongdoings they did in the country more than a century ago.

Your Thoughts …
Tags: Boris JohnsonBritainInternational RelationsMyanmarRakhine StateRohingya
Kyaw Phyo Tha

Kyaw Phyo Tha

The Irrawaddy

Similar Picks:

Three Rebel Army Chiefs Predict Rapid Fall of Myanmar Junta
Burma

Three Rebel Army Chiefs Predict Rapid Fall of Myanmar Junta

by The Irrawaddy
August 18, 2023
27k

Powerful armed groups in Karen, Kachin and Kayah states say the regime is ready to topple.

Read moreDetails
Interview

Myanmar’s Junta And Its Military Face Annihilation, Arakan Army Says

by Hein Htoo Zan
November 25, 2023
22.5k

The current war in Myanmar differs from past conflicts in the country because ethnic armies are no longer on the...

Read moreDetails
Five-Star Casino Resort on Myanmar Tropical Island Runs Out of Luck
Burma

Five-Star Casino Resort on Myanmar Tropical Island Runs Out of Luck

by The Irrawaddy
February 6, 2024
19.3k

U Kyaw Lwin ran his casino resort on the visa-free island for more than 10 years before facing arrest in...

Read moreDetails
Myanmar Junta’s Central Bank Had $6.8 Bn in Reserves at 14 Int’l Banks in March
Myanmar’s Crisis & the World

Myanmar Junta’s Central Bank Had $6.8 Bn in Reserves at 14 Int’l Banks in March

by The Irrawaddy
August 21, 2023
19k

Singapore banks held 67% of the junta’s foreign reserves; in a bank document seen by The Irrawaddy, the junta praises...

Read moreDetails
In Western Myanmar, an Ethnic Landlord is Poised to Liberate ‘Crony Beach’
Burma

In Western Myanmar, an Ethnic Landlord is Poised to Liberate ‘Crony Beach’

by The Irrawaddy
June 25, 2024
15.8k

After capturing Thandwe Airport, the Arakan Army is just steps away from Myanmar’s most valuable beach and the crony-owned resorts...

Read moreDetails
Myanmar Junta ‘Sweetens Deal’ For China in US$ 8 Billion SEZ And Port in Rakhine State
Myanmar-China Watch

Myanmar Junta ‘Sweetens Deal’ For China in US$ 8 Billion SEZ And Port in Rakhine State

by The Irrawaddy
December 27, 2023
14.8k

Business analysts say the concession contract was likely tweaked to offer better terms for China’s state-owned firm CITIC, which has...

Read moreDetails
Load More
Next Post
Police, local administration officials and rescue workers search for missing villagers on the Irrawaddy River in Magwe Division’s Yaynanchaung Township on Wednesday. / Voice Of Myanmar

At Least 7 Dead, Dozens Missing in Magwe Land Dispute

Residents ride their bikes in downtown Mrauk U, Rakhine state, Myanmar, June 30, 2019. REUTERS

Former Peninsula Hotel Shareholder Eyes $1.6-Billion Project in Rakhine 

No Result
View All Result

Recommended

Trump’s Tariffs to Hit Myanmar’s Garment Manufacturers Hard

Trump’s Tariffs to Hit Myanmar’s Garment Manufacturers Hard

6 days ago
1.3k
China’s Surveillance State Watches Everyone, Everywhere

China’s Surveillance State Watches Everyone, Everywhere

1 week ago
1.1k

Most Read

  • Myanmar Junta’s ‘Living Fence’ on Thai Border Falls to Karen Resistance

    Myanmar Junta’s ‘Living Fence’ on Thai Border Falls to Karen Resistance

    shares
    Share 0 Tweet 0
  • Myanmar Junta Launches Space Agency With Russian Help

    shares
    Share 0 Tweet 0
  • TNLA Invites Investment in Ruby and Mineral Towns Amid Myanmar Junta Onslaught

    shares
    Share 0 Tweet 0
  • ‘Las Vegas in Laos’: the Riverside City Awash With Crime

    shares
    Share 0 Tweet 0
  • Two Myanmar Migrants Still Languish in Thai Jail Over Min Aung Hlaing Protest

    shares
    Share 0 Tweet 0

Newsletter

Get The Irrawaddy’s latest news, analyses and opinion pieces on Myanmar in your inbox.

Subscribe here for daily updates.

Contents

  • News
  • Politics
  • War Against the Junta
  • Myanmar’s Crisis & the World
  • Conflicts In Numbers
  • Junta Crony
  • Ethnic Issues
  • Asia
  • World
  • Business
  • Economy
  • Election 2020
  • Elections in History
  • Cartoons
  • Features
  • Opinion
  • Editorial
  • Commentary
  • Guest Column
  • Analysis
  • Letters
  • In Person
  • Interview
  • Profile
  • Dateline
  • Specials
  • Myanmar Diary
  • Women & Gender
  • Places in History
  • On This Day
  • From the Archive
  • Myanmar & COVID-19
  • Intelligence
  • Myanmar-China Watch
  • Lifestyle
  • Travel
  • Food
  • Fashion & Design
  • Videos
  • Photos
  • Photo Essay
  • Donation

About The Irrawaddy

Founded in 1993 by a group of Myanmar journalists living in exile in Thailand, The Irrawaddy is a leading source of reliable news, information, and analysis on Burma/Myanmar and the Southeast Asian region. From its inception, The Irrawaddy has been an independent news media group, unaffiliated with any political party, organization or government. We believe that media must be free and independent and we strive to preserve press freedom.

  • Copyright
  • Code of Ethics
  • Privacy Policy
  • Team
  • About Us
  • Careers
  • Contact
  • Burmese

© 2023 Irrawaddy Publishing Group. All Rights Reserved

Welcome Back!

Login to your account below

Forgotten Password?

Retrieve your password

Please enter your username or email address to reset your password.

Log In
No Result
View All Result
  • Home
  • News
    • Burma
    • Politics
    • World
    • Asia
    • Myanmar’s Crisis & the World
    • Ethnic Issues
    • War Against the Junta
    • Junta Cronies
    • Conflicts In Numbers
    • Junta Watch
    • Fact Check
    • Investigation
    • Myanmar-China Watch
    • Obituaries
  • Politics
  • Opinion
    • Commentary
    • Guest Column
    • Analysis
    • Editorial
    • Stories That Shaped Us
    • Letters
  • Ethnic Issues
  • War Against the Junta
  • In Person
    • Interview
    • Profile
  • Business
    • Economy
    • Business Roundup
  • Books
  • Donation

© 2023 Irrawaddy Publishing Group. All Rights Reserved

This website uses cookies. By continuing to use this website you are giving consent to cookies being used. Visit our Privacy and Cookie Policy.