They can read Myanmar and they speak in Rakhine,” said U Aye Thar Aung, a candidate of the Arakan National Party contesting an Amyotha Hluttaw seat. “Rakhine children learn Myanmar at an elementary level. They haven’t received voter education,” he said, adding that he thought it was the government’s responsibility to translate important electoral documents into ethnic languages.įor candidates in Rakhine State, translation is not necessary because the Myanmar language is taught at school and textbooks are written in Myanmar. “The majority of ethnic Kayin living in far-flung areas are illiterate and speak only their own language. U Saw Ye Win Naing campaigns vigorously in Kyainsekgyi township, which has more than 40 villages and in five other different towns. There are thousands of refugees and internally displaced people as a result of endless fighting between the Tatmadaw and ethnic armed forces. If I speak in Myanmar, they totally don’t understand,” said U Saw Ye Win Naing, chair of the Kayin Democratic Party and an ethnic Kayin who is contesting a seat in Amyotha Hluttaw.Įthnic Kayin mostly live in the mountainous eastern border region, and the central delta area.
“Far-flung ethnic Kayin living in the villages have little formal education, especially people living in IDP camps, and at school, lessons are written in Pwo and Sakaw. The Kayin Democratic Party provides pamphlets written in Sakaw Kayin and Pwo Kayin in Kayin State, where they are the commonest spoken languages. “It’s important to inform people as the election approaches, but it requires a lot of work,” said Chan Lian. It also distributes an audio CD to each village explaining the location of polling stations and voting procedures.
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Hornbill also publishes educative cartoons in the three dialects, clearly demonstrating how to register to vote, how to make sure they are on the voters list and how to cast a ballot. The pamphlets contain instructions on how to vote, where to mark the ballot paper, and why it is important to vote. Only high school students and graduates can read and understand,” said Chan Lian, director of Hornbill Organisation, whose volunteer staff are ethnic Chin. Even middle school students can’t understand Myanmar, though they have mastered the alphabet. In particular, elderly people and children living in the hills can’t read Myanmar.
“A large percentage of the hill-tribe population is illiterate. Their translations appear in pamphlets and are distributed to nine townships and four sub-townships in Chin State and townships in Sagaing Region. Hornbill Organisation is translating basic electoral texts into three dialects of the Chin language: Hakha, Khumi and Choe. But untold tens or hundreds of thousands of citizens of the Union will never see these documents and, if they did, could not read or understand them.
The advice and instructions issued by the Union Election Commission are written in the country’s majority Myanmar language. Under these circumstances, how do the central authorities explain to people how to vote, and how do party campaigners persuade people to vote for them?
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