An international conference, featuring performing arts and exhibitions on “Shan Studies”, is being held for the next 3 days (from the 15th to 17th of October) , at Bangkok’s Chulalongkorn University. A large number of internationally based academics and Shan academics will be giving talks about the Shan people’s identity, culture, literature, and political movements.
Hundreds of Shan and a large number of students are attending the conference. The event opened with a performance of the Shan people’s well-known dance ‘Kein-na-yee and Toe-na-yar’ at 9: 00 a.m.; the performance earned an enthusiastic applause from the audience.
The exhibitions at the event are about Shan foods, languages, livelihoods, the house of Shan ruler Saw-bya, and documents on Shan history. Many Shan people born Thailand, who call themselves the “Tai Yai” people, are participating in this part of the conference.
Sao Harng Fah, a man from Pinlung village in the Weng-kham District of Chaing Mai Province, is among many Tai Yai people who participated in the conference. He said: “I am very proud to be here. You know, we have rich culture and language. But many Shan people from the eastern part of Burma still have to flee from their homes. Many Shan people are now as refugees in Thailand”.
Now that the official opening ceremonies have ended, the presentation panels have commenced. In most of the panels, various speakers are presenting on the Shan’s national identity, food, culture, the Shan practice of Buddhism, the Shan race in China’s Yunan Province, and the prosperous times enjoyed by the Shan people before Burma’s independence in 1948.
In a panel about Shan communities, many questions have been asked of the panelists regarding Shan national identity and the preservation of Shan literature and culture.
A panelist, Shan monk Phra Mahapanya Kham Ai, said: “As far as we know, the preservation of Shan language is totally restricted by the Myanmar government. They do not allow the teaching of Shan language in schools.”
Panelist Dr. Khin Moe Moe Kyu, a lecturer from Rangoon (Yangon) is more optimistic about the preservation of Shan language and literature. Dr. Khin Moe Moe Kyu claimed that Shan Literature and Culture Committees in the Shan plateau are very close to the community leaders, and that they are in close cooperation regarding the preservation of Shan literature and culture.
Chulalongkorn University sponsored this Shan Studies Conference along with the European Burma Office. The conference was organized by the university’s Asian Studies Department; the university community and the academics who are in attendance have put a great deal of preparation into the conference.
In October 2007, Chulalongkorn University and the European Burma Office also sponsored a Mon Conference with presentations on the Mon people and their culture.
