Buddhist welfare and the limits of big 'P' politics in provincial Myanmar

Abstract

A few weeks after Myanmar's historic November 2015 national elections, images of opposition leader Daw Aung San Suu Kyi crouching in grass to pick up trash went viral on Facebook. Following high-profile meetings with President Thein Sein, Senior General Min Aung Hlaing and former dictator Than Shwe, Daw Suu made one of her first public appearances since the poll: to collect rubbish in her electorate in Yangon. After fifteen minutes flanked by jostling photographers-who she commanded to "Help pick up the garbage!"- she disappeared back into her car and zoomed away (Fuller 2015). Show more