From the Land of Green Ghosts

From the Land of Green Ghosts: A Burmese Odyssey by Pascal Khoo Thwe, Harper Perennial, 2002.

Between the Shan State and the Karen State

He was born in 1967 in Phekhou, which is between the Shan State and thee Karen State.

Education

But he also has exposure to Western culture because he was educated in Roman Catholic schools. In 1984 he went to college in Mandallay. Here he studied English, history and literature. Because of his interest in literature, he met John Casey, a lecturer at Cambridge University. Casey eventually helped Pascal emigrate to the United Kingdom.

Multiculturalism

He uses the word Burmese for the language and Burman for the dominant ethnicity on Burma (Myanmar). While in college he became politically active in the cause to make the central government  give more autonomy to Burma’s diverse ethnicities:

• Burman (who speak Burmese, a Sino-Tibetan language)

• Tai Shan (who speak a language related to Thai)

• Mon (who speak a language related to Khmer)

• Rakhine (old Arakan province)

• Karen (southern Burma)

• Kachin (northern Burma, who speak a language related to Burmesee)

• Chin (western Burma)

• Rohingya (Bengalis, many of whom have been expelled)

Religion

The main religion of Burma is Theravada Buddhism. The Rohingya are Muslim.

Padaung

Padaung is part of Kayan which is part of Karen. Kayan Padaung ethnicity in the Shan State in southeast Burma. You learn a lot about Padaung culture in his description of his childhood. While the Padaung are known abroad mainly for the fact that their women wear coiled brass neck rings, the part of their culture that I found most interesting was the fact that they enjoy eating insects.