24 > Next Generation Myanmar FIGURE 6 Figure 6: Importance of being truly Myanmar To belong to one of the other religions practised in Myanmar To have lived in Myanmar for most of one's life To speak Burmese To respect Myanmar's laws and constitution To have been born in Myanmar To feel Myanmar To have Myanmar citizenship 0 20 40 Neither important nor unimportant Do not know Important Unimportant Notably, a wide majority of survey respondents did not feel ethnicity or religion was a problem in choosing friends: 72 per cent and 81.5 per cent of respondents said they would like to have a person of a different religion or ethnicity in their group of friends, respectively. ‘I only devote to Theravada Buddhism. I have many friends who are different in religion, but I go to their religion festivals and they come to ours as well. So, we do not have problems,’ shared a 27-year-old teacher from Shan State. Though roughly one in five youth reported to have been discriminated against based on their religion or ethnic background, few youth took issue with the idea of religious or ethnic diversity in their personal friendships, though religion appeared a more consequential factor in choosing friends than ethnicity. National identity in Myanmar In this context of diversity and discrimination, youth in Myanmar have inherited a debate on Myanmar identity. Though youth interviewed in this study held a wide range of ideas of what truly constituted a ‘Myanmar person’ (see Figure 6), a wide majority of survey respondents felt citizenship was most important: 87.9 per cent of youth surveyed said it was important to have Myanmar citizenship to be ‘truly Myanmar’. Among youth surveyed, citizenship was more important than religious affiliation or how long one has lived in Myanmar. Youth of both majority- and minorityethnic groups felt citizenship was the most important factor in ‘true’ Myanmar identity. ‘We, ethnic people, are also proud of being citizen of the country, we are born here,’ said a young man from Shan State. ‘A lot of us think that way.’ Speaking Myanmar was less important to youth surveyed. Though a few youth expressed their comfort with Myanmar as an official national language, some interview respondents emphasised their opinion that language ability should not disqualify one from being ‘truly’ Myanmar. 60 80 100 Prefer not to say In the words of one 18-year-old student in Pathein: ‘[Myanmar] language cannot represent Myanmar identity because there is different ethnicity… only because they may not be able to speak Myanmar does not mean that they are not Myanmar!’ Others expressed concern about the future of their minority languages: ‘If we cannot protect our dialects, it will come to an end.’ Many youth acknowledged the difficulty of arriving at a comprehensive and inclusive Myanmar identity, but still felt it was important to try. Many felt such an identity could combat ‘ethnocentric’ feelings in the country. One student stated, ‘I think that at the centre of Myanmar identity should be the mention of diversity and peaceful coexistence.’