Forty years. It doesn’t seem that long.

“Dad, I will give a Mon traditional shirt and sarong as a present to Mu Dave and Kyi Dave, who live in Australia,” my oldest daughter told me.

I looked at her warmly and said, “Well, if your friend will bring them, please buy three sets of clothes for each of them.”

“I hoped you would say that. Whenever I told you that I would buy Mon traditional clothes for someone, you always agree. You permitted me to buy 2-3 sets of Mon clothes. You really like Mon traditional clothes, don’t you Dad?” she inquired me.

I wanted to say, “I love Mon clothes, more than like.”

I answered, “Well, you don’t know the relationship between Mon clothes and me. Come on. I’ll tell you this story.”

She sat near my chair and listened carefully. I looked into her eyes and told her this story:

Forty years ago, I was a tenth grade student when I got an invitation letter. My hands were shaking as I read it. In the invitation letter, it mentioned I was invited to a meeting to discuss rediscovering the Mon national dress. I had been suggested as a participant.

How could I give them suggestions, because I was just a high school student? However, I was happy and proud of myself because I would be working together with university students.

 On the other hand, I heard Burmese military intelligence would take photos at the meeting and make problems for attendees. I was afraid. However, I would keep my head down when the intelligence officers took photos.

I was nervous when I attended the meeting because I had no experience. It was my first time at a meeting dealing with Mon national issues.

I smile now, when I recall the experience.

The Mon Pitika building, on the road outside the southern gate of the Shwedigon Pagoda, was full with people. I remembered there were three students among the attendees. They were university lecturer U Lu Pe Win, Min Maung Toe and Banyar Aung Moe. Min Maung Toe was short, a little bit fat and had a brown skin. He was a good speaker. Banyar Aung Moe was slim and had light skin. He was talkative and spoke loudly. They were selected as advisor, chairman, and secretary of the Rediscovering Mon National Dress Committee.

 I liked Banyar Aung Moe, a medical student, the most. He was  brave and had leadership skills. I thought then he would be a Mon leader in the future.

At the meeting, the discussion centered on the idea there was no standardized, culturally distinctive dress recognized by all Mon people, at that time. We had to accept it.

So, we started to debate whether our mission was to create or rediscover Mon national dress. One student spoke to us and said, “Creating means we have to create something new, which did not exist before. Then we have to convince the people to accept this new thing. However, rediscovering means we have to discover something again, which faded away. We have to convince people to use it again. Mon people are civilized people. Mon people can grow cotton, make cotton fiber, and weave. And, Mon people had developed various fashion styles in the past. Therefore, we should use “rediscovering” Mon national dress.” Then the discussion was finished.

We were proud of him because he spoke clearly. I worried, however, that we might not reach an agreement. If we were not unified, there would be two or three models of Mon national dress come out of our deliberations. Finally, the meeting ended peacefully.

All the students had to go back to their homes because the universities were closing for the holidays. Every student had to gather examples of Mon dress from their community. We would meet again when school reopened.

I was one of the three student representatives of Poung Township.

The students came to the next meeting with examples of Mon dress which they found at home. Before the meeting started, students talked about how they obtained the clothes. Some students said they requested Mon dress from their family; others said they stole the clothes from their family and some even said they took them from the family spirit house. After we heard these stories, we laughed together.

We considered each shirt and all the sarongs that we brought and looked at various combinations as we discussed what the distinctive Mon style dress would look like.

Many students pressed the group to choose their local Mon dress to be chosen as the Mon National Dress, but were willing to let the group choose. Finally, after much deliberation, we came to a consensus.

As students we were willing to defer to the interests of others. We had tolerance at that time. However, now we are getting old and I wonder where that youthful tolerance has gone sometimes.

The main colors in Mon national dress are white and red. White represents purity and red represents bravery. There is also meaning attached to the pattern of the Mon shirt. The checkered pattern of red squares on the white cloth represents the paddy fields where our ancestors use to grow rice.

Old Mon people weaved cotton on hand operated weaving machines to make cloth. Then they stitched together two pieces of cloth to make a shirt or sarong.
Unlike the Burmese traditional shirt, there are no outside or inside pockets on the Mon shirt worn by the men.

As well, there are no cuffs on the sleeve and no buttons on the Mon shirt. Instead it is closed with five fabric ties.

We also debated how to standardize the sarong for Mon women, from the two popular styles. One had a rectangle check pattern on the upper part of the sarong and another model was the style from the town of Mreit (Bate). They were both very beautiful, so it was difficult to choose.

During the debate, one female student from Mudon Township suggested we should combine the weave pattern from both sarong styles to make a new pattern, which would later become the standard one.

Blouses for Mon women would be solid white, with a bell shaped sleeve and neck shaped like the banyan tree leaf, to pay respect to Buddhism.

Then a student showed a yellow and soft pink traditional hat, sometimes worn by Mon politicians, which led to more discussion. Now, leaders from the Mon National League for Democracy party sometimes wear the Mon traditional hat in ceremonies and public meetings.

So, we agreed to try and educate the Mon people about the new Mon national dress.

The cause was soon helped along when Nai Thet Lwin (Vice-chairman 2 of the MNLD party) and Mi Kyin Than, wore this new Mon national dress in their wedding. It’s the first time a Mon couple wore this new style in their wedding. We had to rush to make the new Mon clothes for them because the wedding was to take place very soon. Members of the Mon National Dress Rediscovery Committee and Mon university students attended their wedding, which was held in Pegu.

We also published a Mon calendar at the same time with a photo of Min Maung Aye, from Poung Township, and a female student from Chaung Son Township, wearing the new Mon national dress.

We students also began wearing the Mon national dress as examples for our people. Later on, the new style dress was made by seamstresses and clothing manufacturers.

Also, a female engineering student wore the new style for six years in university.

However, Ne Win’s Revolutionary Council opposed the movement promoting the new Mon national dress, saying it was anti-government.

The government threatened to arrest the students involved in the movement. The Mon State Council also released a different style of Mon national dress. Members of Parliament were forced to wear the style released by the government.

Despite the government’s tactics, the number of people wearing the new Mon national dress increased as students and MDRC committee members defied the ban.

At a meeting of youth members of Ne Win’s Burma Socialist Programme Party (BSPP), a party leader said, “The government does not recognize the current Mon national dress as being legal. I don’t want you’re wearing it. I want you wear the Mon national dress which is recognized by the government. If you do not, you can leave.” All but one student left the meeting.

 “Government does not recognize any national dress for any ethnic group. However, if ethnic people wear their respected national dress, the government has to recognize it. I will wear this Mon national dress. I will also urge Mon people to wear this national dress,” a Mon student from Poung Township said in response.

Another student said, “It’s ridiculous. Why did they ban ethnic people from wearing their own dress? There is no freedom.”

Another student shouted, “Let’s wear white shirt and red sarong until we die.”
“Let’s wear white shirt and red sarong until we die.”
“Let’s wear white shirt and red sarong until we die.”
Then other students joined in, shouting, “Let’s wear white shirt and red sarong until we die.”

Nowadays, almost all Mon people wear the Mon national dress designed by the students. Many people wear it on Mon National Day, other ceremonies, and religious and social events.
Mon people who live inside and outside Burma wear the Mon national dress. Mon people also give Mon dress as a present to other ethnic people and foreigners, as well as anyone who loves and respects the Mon race.

Government officials also wear this Mon national dress in parliament.

I want to smile, now, when I see the people who wear this distinctive Mon dress because the government’s intimidation tactics didn’t work.

It’s a victory for Mon people.