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Unusual terms used to refer rice under BSPP

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Description

There existed unusual terms used to refer certain types of rice during the BSPP government. Here are three examples. U Myo Win Than is a 55 years old Burmese man who used to live in Myittha, Kyaukse district, Mandalay.

He explained that “Yar Kyaw Sa Par” refers to the variety which exceeds a hundred tinns (Burmese unit of volume measurement that equals to 40.9148 L) per acre when harvested.

The term “U Lu Ne Sa Par” refers to rice, which was grown carefully and well planted just like a farmer named “U Lu Ne”, who lived in Ayeyarwady region, used to do. This type of rice also exceeds a hundred tinns per acre.

Under the BSPP government, states and regions had to grow rice and give it to the government after leaving enough for everyone in the state to consume. The government then calculated an enough amount of rice for everyone in the states or regions like Tanintharyi that didn’t grow much rice compared to the others and transported the rice. For Tanintharyi, that was because it was coastal region and its main businesses were fishing, trading, mining and forestry. Therefore, rice was contributed by the government to needed regions such as Tanintharyi. This contributed rice was called “Nal Kyaw Sa Par”. It means rice that moved from a region to another.

Credits / copyrights

U Myo Win Than, Personal Interview, 1 Oct 2020.

Medium
Audio contains
(Partial) Date
1962 - 1988
Location

Myittha
Kyaukse district
Mandalay
Myanmar (Burma)

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