By Joseph Allchin

For the past two and half years, I have been writing, ruminating and reporting about Burma while working for an exiled news organisation called the Democratic Voice of Burma (DVB).

All along I have sought the insight and feedback of the British government – my political representation – on this beguiling region. The closest I have got has been PR-speak and broken promises from hacks working for, what I call, the Ministry of Untruth.

What then does it say about the state of affairs in Burma – a country shunned for its press freedom standards – when a week or so ago, much to my surprise, I was handed a mobile phone in Thailand to speak with a serving Burmese government official, U Myint Thein, deputy to the labour minister?

Real reform?
I later published his words on DVB’s website, which has only recently been officially unblocked by the country’s firewall on “those generating public outrage” to allow access to its civilians. The piece brought to light a new labour organisation bill that allows Burmese citizens the right to unionise or go on strike for the first time in 50 years.

It may be of note to point out that these events come against the backdrop of talks of reform by the newly ‘elected’ Burmese President Thein Sein. Things are changing in this Southeast Asian country, a number of observers say. Primary among them is the International Crisis Group (ICG), an advocacy organisation which until now has remained sceptical about the Burmese junta’s promises.

 “Six months after the transition to a new, semi-civilian government, major changes are taking place in Myanmar. In the last two months, President Thein Sein has moved rapidly to begin implementing an ambitious reform agenda…” the ICG said in a recent report.

‘The world changes’
In any case, pioneering Burmese rapper Zayar Thaw is not in the clear yet. Zayar Thaw virtually created hip-hop in the country, heirs have sprouted all over. For his trouble, he was jailed in 2008, his lyrics, guile and political sensibility too much for a military government. He was released in May this year. I met him in Yangon.

Things have changed he agrees. “The world changes,” he said – a point frequently overlooked in this country. But old habits die hard.  Record producers, tour managers and the like are still concerned for their reputation, and ignore him because of they're still afraid of reprisals – a more internationally recognised, subtler form of censorship.

There are others, however, whose careers are not in the hands of producers. Young, lean and scurrilous Aung works at a major junction on one of Rangoon's arterial roads. He sells banners with the likeness of only one family – Aung San Suu Kyi and her father, General Aung San.

As a young man, General Aung San pitted himself against the British government. He campaigned and fought for the independence of his country, which cut itself loose from from the United Kingdom in 1947. His image has had an ambiguity for Burma's rulers, who have remained unsure about his political palatability.

But their view of his daughter Aung San Suu Kyi has been unequivocal. A year ago her image could only be seen in hushed privacy, if at all. Now pictures of 'the Lady', a moniker that was once adopted for the purposes of secrecy, is everywhere in this city. After twenty years of government attempts to silence and isolate her, she is as sellable and popular as ever, it seems.

No matter of negotiation
“Nowadays we can negotiate with them about the words,” says another rapper, Yathar. In his compound in Yangon, his father, a captain in the engineering battalion, looks on.

“Before, no slang was allowed, but hip-hop is slang! So it caused us a lot of problems,” he says, adding, “They are a little better now, we didn't dare to talk about politics before.” Now, he says, in reaction to this censorship he has joined a political party.

The battle for freedom of speech however is not a matter of negotiation for those whose job it is to tell the ugly truth. Sithu Zeya is a 21-year old inmate of Burma's prison system. He was jailed for photographing the aftermath of a bombing during New Year’s celebrations in 2009.

Working for DVB, he was initially tried under the Unlawful Association Act and given an eight-year sentence. Last month he was handed an additional 10 years under the Electronics Act. Evidently in the battle for 'respect' for the fourth pillar, as called for by Burma's President Thein Sein, there is still much ground to be won.

Joseph Allchin is pseudonym for a British journalist working for Democratic Voice of Burma. He can be reached at