Ancient beliefs still rule in Southeast Asia

Michael Vatikiotis, The Straits Times, Asia News Network/Singapore

People have grown accustomed in Southeast Asia to very concrete notions of time and place. Modernity and development have shunted to the margins indigenous traditions that view places as inhabited by spirits and those that govern time in accordance with the moon, stars and soothsayer's whim.

So when Myanmar's military leaders decided to shift the capital from Yangon some 300km north to a place in the hills called Pyinmana, no modern logic could be summoned to explain the move. Singapore's official reaction was that the move was "puzzling".

Perhaps there isn't a modern explanation. Down through Southeast Asia's history, rulers have moved their seats of government to make symbolic statements at the start of new dynasties and to propitiate the spirits. In Myanmarese history, several cities including Pagan, Ava, Pegu and Mandalay have at some time or other served as the country's capital.

The people to this day recall the humiliating removal of the last Myanmarese king from his palace in Mandalay. The British packed King Thibaw off on a steamer to India in 1885 and moved the capital to Rangoon, now called Yangon.

The nature of medieval warfare was such that the pinnacle of conquest involved the sacking of the defeated enemy's capital, defined as a spiritual center in the Hindu-Buddhist cosmology by which rulers ruled their kingdoms.

Thus, Thailand's ancient capital was at Ayudhya along the Chao Phraya River. The Myanmarese sacked the city of golden spires in 1767 and a new Thai capital was established at Thonburi, near present-day Bangkok. The current Chakri dynasty thought it best to move the capital across the river to Bangkok.

All this is to suggest that the Myanmar military junta's paranoia about the physical location of its capital has deep cultural and historical roots. The move to Pyinmana is probably less about facilitating strategic access to the center of the country and more about a military leader who considers himself a great ruler, deserving a new capital.

Who knows what the soothsayers and toadies have whispered to him about the best way to shore up his power. Wasn't the former military strongman Ne Win prone to sudden changes in the traffic flow or the denomination of bank notes simply to ensure continuing good fortune?

But it would be unfair to consider the Myanmar people as the only ones in the region who consider geography a sacred commodity. Thailand's monarchy in modern times has continued to practice ritual forms of geomancy to ensure the kingdom's security. The royal household maintains palaces in every corner of the kingdom and still conducts a Hindu ploughing ceremony in the heart of Bangkok to ensure a good rice crop.

Who knows what the city spirits will make of the proposal to move Thailand's Parliament to the outer bounds of the city?

In Indonesia, former president Soeharto used to quietly conduct Javanese spiritual ceremonies to ensure the longevity of his rule. One of these involved a mythical nail in the earth that needed hammering back in every time the republic endured an unsettled period.

Indonesia's newly elected President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono is no slouch when it comes to respect for old ways. Close friends say that he regularly hears his dreams interpreted by his wife, and is said to avoid making major decisions without first checking whether the timing is auspicious.

Thailand's Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra may have built his image on the basis of a modern CEO style of leadership but, under pressure from his critics, the mercurial politician has recently taken refuge in cosmology.

"Right now Mercury...is in a corner perfectly aligned with my star. Mercury is no good, so if it's not good, I am going to request not to speak. I'll just wait until next year to talk," he told the media on his return from the APEC summit in Busan.

Cosmologically silenced prime ministers and uprooted capitals suggest that traditional notions of time and place remain embedded in the region's culture despite all the trappings of modernity. And as we have seen lately, such notions tend to become most pronounced when the leadership is under strain.

The writer is a visiting research fellow at the Institute of Southeast Asian Studies.