With revolutions sweeping the Arab world, autocratic leaders from China to Vietnam to Zimbabwe are leaving nothing to chance, cracking down hard on potential troublemakers. Burma's eccentric military ruler Than Shwe, on the other hand, had a different idea for hanging on to power:
And so many Burmese were baffled earlier this month when Than Shwe and other top generals, appearing at a nationally televised ceremony, shed their dress uniforms for the Burmese equivalent of women's dresses. "I don't understand why the generals were wearing women's [sarongs] but they looked very weird," said a Rangoon mechanic, Myint Oo. Others put a more sinister spin on the generals' sartorial selection. "It's yadaya," said a Rangoon-based astrologer who asked not to be named, referring to Burma's particular brand of black magic. [...]
According to Wai Moe, a journalist with the Irrawaddy, an online magazine run by Burmese exiles, two interpretations of the the general sporting a ladies' sarong have gained the most currency. The first is that astrologers have predicted a woman will rule Burma, and so by donning women's clothes, Than Shwe and the other generals are attempting to fulfill the prophecy through some superstitious sleight of hand. The second, fuzzier interpretation, is that by dressing in women's clothing, the generals are somehow trying to neutralize Suu Kyi's power. After Than Shwe brutally suppressed an uprising led by Burmese monks in 2007, anti-regime activists launched a campaign asking people to send women's underwear to the leader because they said the generals believe that contact with women's underwear will sap their power. By wearing sarongs, they may believe they are cancelling out Suu Kyi's ability to sap what they view as the virile male power that underpins their leadership.
Time for a ladies underwear revolution?
This isn't the first time Than Shwe has made some odd decisions for allegedly astrological reasons. He also replaced Burma's 100-kyat note with a 90-kyat note because it was luckier, and he moved his capital to a remote outpost, reportedly, because his star was in decline.
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