27/9/10

The Moken face a 'settled' future

"I HAVE read widely on the Moken and most literature depicts a culture and traditions caught in the mists of time, but such accounts are out of touch with the reality of life at present," says writer U Sein Myo Myint. "The lives of the Moken have already changed."
He has taken three trips to the Myeik Archipelago, the most recent being in 2008. The result of his travels is To the Beauties of Myeik Archipelago, which was published in January 2010.
"In recent times Moken families would live on their boats and rove around the sea, but now their nomadic lives have metamorphosed into a more settled life on land," he says.
To some degree this change of lifestyle makes sense. Historically, the islands around Myeik were a favourite spot for pirates roaming the Andaman Sea.
"The Moken lived in fear on the sea; they rarely approached the islands where they could be robbed at any time. If they roved the sea, it was easier to escape if they came across attackers," adds the writer.
But as the years have passed, the Andaman Sea has grown safer and the Myeik Archipelago, a collection of more than 800 islands, has grown in importance. The pirates have left, but the tourists have arrived, and the discovery of petroleum deposits in the area guarantees the presence of business and government interests.
Traditionally, the Moken, known more commonly in Myanmar as the Salone, would only take shelter on the islands when the seas were rough. Government efforts to integrate them, however, have seen a greater number move permanently to islands such as Nyaung Wee, Kaw Thaung, Aung Bar, Zar Det Kyee, Talun and Kawt Nyat, among others.

"When the convenience of trade is factored in, they are enjoying a more settled life on the shores. They have come to live in close communion with the Myanmar and develop a close rapport with them. They have come to wear T-shirts and jeans like [some] Myanmar people, smoke cigarettes and sing karaoke," says U Sein Myo Myint.
This shift means that books such as A Journey through Mergui Archipelago by Jacques Ivannoff and Thierry Lejard (2002), which describe the customs and beliefs of the Moken, are rapidly becoming historical accounts as the Moken gradually lose their r traditional way of life.
"The old traditions of the Moken that were practised for a tong time and are described in the book are true, but I do not think it is worthwhile to write about the old traditions because they are changing. For example, the [writers] describe the Moken as simple sea dwellers who were happy on the sea, but in fact they are moving inland. They lived on the sea once for survival, but in the future the Moken will be seen, for the most part, on the land except when out working on the sea," argues U Sein Myo Myint.
It is not just increased safety and government efforts at integration driving this trend. While some Moken have been exploited in the past, by trading pearls for small amounts of rice for example, economic and environmental factors look set to continue driving the Moken landwards.
One issue facing them is the loss of their traditional fishing grounds to commercial interests that have established fish farms
or are engaged in overfishing. While the Moken have adopted modern fishing methods, they have also engaged in dangerous practices too, such as the use of explosives, which is now banned.
"They are taugh some modern fishing methods and some now use plastic containers and steel kitchen utensils. They have become better informed about the quality and value of the marine products they catch and even sell them at the Thai border," says U Aye Min Oo, chief executive officer of TMC Travel Service, which arranges day trips to the Myeik Archipelago.
Although fish stocks may be at risk, other jobs are available. Being experts in diving, pearl companies pay the Moken to dive for pearls and young Moken are hired to mine metals and sand.
Most Moken still carve their own boats, called kabang, and even the practice of leaving a dog on an island for a year to discover whether food and water is abundant continues.
One potential source of income is tourism. Efforts have been made to promote tourism in the area, most notably the Salone National Festival, established by the government in 2004. However, considering the seclusiveness of the Moken it is difficult to see how exposure to tourists, and tourist dollars, could help preserve their way of life.
"They are shy and uncomfortable with strangers because they love their freedom. They live in close communion with nature, they live separately from other races and have little contact with the outside world. Living on the
islands makes them unhappy," says writer Mi Chan Wai, who works as a teacher in Myeik, an experience that has left her doubtful as to the level of integration achieved so far.
"Myanmar children have been indoctrinated to believe that Moken children are simple, dull and dimwitted, so it is important to even out the differences between them and other races," she says.
An accurate picture of Moken identity today is far removed from the romantic idealism of the past. Stories of Moken children with superior underwater vision, or the knowledge passed down through folk tales from generation to generation that helped many Moken communities living on land predict the tsunami in 2004, must be seen in the context of attempts to celebrate their unique culture, while taming it through integration, state schooling, census-taking and efforts to limit spirit worship in favour of Buddhism.
"The Moken are still living half-naked on their kabang boats and roaming around the sea; they are nomadic, the places we found them in previous times have changed when we next visit them," says U Aye Min Oo. While previously inconceivable, their next move could be towards land.

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