Page 46 - The Rough Guide to Myanmar (Burma)

44 BASICS Culture and etiquette
concept defined by the Myanmar–English between men and women. Couples will rarely even
Dictionary as “a tendency to be embarrassed by hold hands in public, although they can often be
feelings of respect, delicacy; to be restrained by seen sitting very close together in parks under the
fear of offending”. For the Burmese, āna applies shelter of a protective umbrella.
particularly to the business of dealing with You should also avoid touching another person’s
strangers, when the risk of causing accidental head (considered the most sacred part of the
offence or embarrassment is greatest – hence the body), and when sitting try to avoid pointing your
sometimes exquisite levels of politeness you will feet (which are considered impure) at anyone.
encounter anywhere from a local teahouse to a always use your right hand when shaking hands or
five-star hotel. passing something to someone (the left hand is
Compared to some of their less scrupulous traditionally used for toilet ablutions). if invited
cousins in neighbouring countries such as india inside a Burmese house, remove your shoes before
and thailand, it’s worth noting that most of the going inside.
Burmese you’ll have dealings with during your
travels – taxi and rickshaw drivers, shop and guest- Greetings
house owners, and so on – are still refreshingly
honest. tourist scams are rare and you’ll generally there’s no equivalent in Myanmar to the prayer-
be offered a fair price for whatever you’re looking like greetings employed in other nearby
for. there’s still some scope for bargaining in shops Buddhist countries (such as the thai wai,
and perhaps when haggling over transport costs, Cambodian sampeah or the Sri lankan
but bear in mind that the cut-throat haggling that’s ayubowan). Men will shake hands on meeting;
more or less obligatory in some other asian women meeting one another or a woman
countries doesn’t apply here, and given how meeting a man will content themselves with a
impoverished most Burmese are it’s worth smile and a mingalaba. Men should not try to
reminding yourself what a difference even a shake hands with women.
handful of kyat can make to a local cycle-rickshaw- the standard Burmese greeting is the rather
driver or market-stall owner. formal mingalaba (meaning roughly “blessings
the Burmese dress modestly. in some ethnic upon you”), although this only entered the
minority villages it’s still the norm to wear tradi- language in the post-colonial period as a replace-
tional dress, and even in cities many men and ment for the colonial “Good morning/good
women still wear longyi (see box, p.7), although afternoon”. Given that there’s no clear equivalent of
Western-style clothes are increasingly common. “hello” in Burmese, foreign visitors have adopted
People will be too polite to say anything, but they mingalaba as an easy, all-purpose greeting, and the
may be offended by the sight of tourists wearing phrase has been embraced with gusto by the
revealing clothes, including shorts cut above the Burmese as a way of addressing foreigners.
knee, and – particularly for women – tops that are Burmese speakers themselves rarely use
tight or show the shoulders. mingalaba, preferring more informal greetings,
Physical demonstrations of affection (particu- typically nei kaun la (“how are you?”) or just “hello”.
larly holding hands) are common between friends You might also hear htamin sa pi bi la – literally,
of the same sex and family members, but not “have you eaten rice?”.

TEAHOUSE KISSES
Sit in any local café or teahouse in Myanmar and you’re bound to notice the distinctive
kissing sounds that local men make when they want to attract a waiter’s attention – a bit like
the sound you might make when trying to make friends with a cat. the endless air-kissing may
sound a bit flirty (or just plain rude) to Western ears, although for the Burmese it’s all perfectly
routine – and no one will mind if you attempt a bit of simulated kissing yourself when you
want service. Burmese women don’t usually air-kiss for attention, although Western women
can generally get away with it.
although most obvious in teahouses and cafés, kissy-kissy sounds are also used out on the
street as a general call for attention – meaning anything from “Come into my shop” to “Watch
out, i’m about to flatten you with my motorbike”, so don’t be surprised (or offended) if you
attract a few puckered lips yourself when travelling around Myanmar.

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