NAYPIDAW: Although he is a pariah on the world stage and struggles against fierce domestic opposition to his rule, The Burmese Junta found grounds for optimism – the birth of a rare albino elephant.
Since taking power, the junta has crushed democratic protests, imprisoned ousted leader Aung San Suu Kyi and has been accused of committing war crimes in its attempt to suppress dissent.
But the birth of the elephant – more milky gray than white – in the west Rahkin last year is described by the junta-controlled media as fortuitous.
Ancient rulers viewed white elephants as extremely auspicious and their appearance was seen as a symbol of righteous political power.
The pale pachyderm will feature on a special postage stamp released this week to mark the 75th anniversary of Myanmar’s independence from Britain, state media said on Tuesday.
A set of commemorative gold coins bearing the image of the animal is also already cast for the occasion, according to another report.
The tusker tot’s most publicized engagement so far was a meeting with junta leader Min Aung Hlaing in October, when the general-in-chief gave him a name in a televised ceremony.
“Rattha Nandaka” comes from the ancient Pali words for “country” and “happiness”.
To bolster his new auspicious credentials, state media insisted the beast had a near-impeccable pedigree.
According to the experts quoted, it has seven of the eight standard characteristics of an albino elephant, including “pearlescent eyes” and a “back in the shape of a branch of a plantain”.
In Myanmar, where astrological charts are drawn at birth and fortune tellers consulted for daily and political decisions, the white elephant craze dates back hundreds of years.
Traditional chronicles tell of kings of Thailand, Laos and Myanmar – then known as Burma – waging war against each other to capture the beasts of their rivals.
The ruinous cost of maintaining them in a proper lavish style gave rise to the modern phrase in which a “white elephant” is a useless, though beautiful, possession.
A creature inherited from a 19th century Burmese king was served by thirty servants and dressed in “fine red cloth profusely sprinkled” with rubies and diamonds, according to a visiting British official.
The king, who had usurped his brother, “would gladly hail the capture of a true white elephant in his day as an assent of the powers of nature to his own rightful kingship”, the envoy added.
But the creatures’ fortunes are tied to the ruler under whom they were captured.
Two elephants, once celebrated by a former junta, are now confined to a damp and isolated compound in the commercial center of Yangon, where they receive few visitors.
“Rattha Nandaka” will spend his days at a special white elephant compound in the military capital Naypyidaw.
But with swaths of the country still ravaged by fighting and the junta widely reviled, his birth has drawn public skepticism and scorn.
“Looks like they forgot to put on sunscreen,” one social media user wrote of the baby elephant’s grayer-than-albino appearance.
“Now it’s black.”
Black or white, wrote another, the baby was “now a prisoner”.
Since taking power, the junta has crushed democratic protests, imprisoned ousted leader Aung San Suu Kyi and has been accused of committing war crimes in its attempt to suppress dissent.
But the birth of the elephant – more milky gray than white – in the west Rahkin last year is described by the junta-controlled media as fortuitous.
Ancient rulers viewed white elephants as extremely auspicious and their appearance was seen as a symbol of righteous political power.
The pale pachyderm will feature on a special postage stamp released this week to mark the 75th anniversary of Myanmar’s independence from Britain, state media said on Tuesday.
A set of commemorative gold coins bearing the image of the animal is also already cast for the occasion, according to another report.
The tusker tot’s most publicized engagement so far was a meeting with junta leader Min Aung Hlaing in October, when the general-in-chief gave him a name in a televised ceremony.
“Rattha Nandaka” comes from the ancient Pali words for “country” and “happiness”.
To bolster his new auspicious credentials, state media insisted the beast had a near-impeccable pedigree.
According to the experts quoted, it has seven of the eight standard characteristics of an albino elephant, including “pearlescent eyes” and a “back in the shape of a branch of a plantain”.
In Myanmar, where astrological charts are drawn at birth and fortune tellers consulted for daily and political decisions, the white elephant craze dates back hundreds of years.
Traditional chronicles tell of kings of Thailand, Laos and Myanmar – then known as Burma – waging war against each other to capture the beasts of their rivals.
The ruinous cost of maintaining them in a proper lavish style gave rise to the modern phrase in which a “white elephant” is a useless, though beautiful, possession.
A creature inherited from a 19th century Burmese king was served by thirty servants and dressed in “fine red cloth profusely sprinkled” with rubies and diamonds, according to a visiting British official.
The king, who had usurped his brother, “would gladly hail the capture of a true white elephant in his day as an assent of the powers of nature to his own rightful kingship”, the envoy added.
But the creatures’ fortunes are tied to the ruler under whom they were captured.
Two elephants, once celebrated by a former junta, are now confined to a damp and isolated compound in the commercial center of Yangon, where they receive few visitors.
“Rattha Nandaka” will spend his days at a special white elephant compound in the military capital Naypyidaw.
But with swaths of the country still ravaged by fighting and the junta widely reviled, his birth has drawn public skepticism and scorn.
“Looks like they forgot to put on sunscreen,” one social media user wrote of the baby elephant’s grayer-than-albino appearance.
“Now it’s black.”
Black or white, wrote another, the baby was “now a prisoner”.
