5/24/22, 10:22 PM The unexpected origins of the controversial Myanmar word 'kalar' | Coconuts An internet meme mocking “kalars” It’s worth noting that during the colonial era, the Burmese — especially the nationalists — used the word kala-phyu, or “white kalars,” to refer to Europeans and Caucasians. Much earlier, in the historical work Hman Nan Yazawin or The Glass Palace Chronicles, compiled around 1830s, Filipe de Brito e Nicote, the Portuguese adventure who declared himself king of Thanlyin and ruled there briefly, was described as “kalar nga Zingar”— Zingar the Kalar. Was de Brito so sunburned and darkened from years of military campaign that he was virtually indistinguishable from the south Indians? Who knows? But a more probably explanation is, people back then used the word kalar to refer to a much broader category of foreigners than Indians. Even the construct of the Burmese word for “chair” — kala-htaing (kalar + seat) — strongly suggests that the furniture might have been introduced by foreigners. So, if one were to ban the word kalar altogether, one may also have to come up with other awkward and possibly comical alternatives for lentil, chair, and many other words. (It’s a little too late to rebrand lentil as Myanmar pae, or “the beans of the Myanmars.”) Besides, I’m of the opinion that solving social problems at the linguistic level is a cop-out. The proposed fixes don’t address the root causes. English speakers have effectively stopped using the derogatory N-word for black people, but the recent police shootings of unarmed black men suggests the society’s attitude and treatment of the marginalized segment has not changed much. Kenneth Wong is a Burmese-American writer, blogger, and the author of A Prayer for Burma, a travelogue. His short stories, essays, articles, and poetry translations have appeared in California College of the Arts’ Eleven Eleven magazine, Boston University’s AGNI magazine, San Francisco Chronicle, Irrawaddy, and Myanmar Times, among others. He currently teaches Introductory Burmese at UC Berkeley, California. He has a fondness for Burmese tea-leaf salad (as most Burmese do) and bad puns (as most writers do). Subscribe to The Coconuts Podcast for top trending news and pop culture from Southeast Asia and Hong Kong every Friday! Indonesian preacher Abdu Somad a no-go in… May 19 • The Coconuts Podcast Follow 51:25 Topics: YANGON, FEATURES, COLUMNS https://coconuts.co/yangon/features/kenneth-wong-the-origins-of-the-controversial-myanmar-word-kalar/ 3/12