Refusing to call a nation by its proper official name may seem insignificant to some but generate resentment among a very high majority of the Myanmar population.  The subject concerns with the recognition of the country by its original name.  Of course, there are a few politicians in Myanmar who for certain political reasons prefer to retain the name Burma given by the former British Colonial Administration.

Myanmar and its capital Yangon are not new names created by the State Law and Order Restoration Council.  In fact, Myanmar and Yangon are the original names before but being renamed Burma and Rangoon by the British Colonial Administration.

Unfortunately, none of the successive Myanmar Governments took the trouble of reinstating the original names but only the SLORC administration did so with two main purposes: to provide a feeling of release from the British colonial past and to give a previously divided and fractious country a sense of national unity under the new banner of "The Union of Myanmar".

In the Union of Myanmar there are 8 (eight) major national races with some 135 (one hundred and thirty-five) ethnic minorities and among the 8 (eight) major nationalities, Bamar is the largest national race constituting 70% of the whole population.  In this regard, when the British Colonial Administration colonized Myanmar in the late 1800, it is presumed that Britain renamed it Burma since Bamar or Burmans (the British usage) were the majority in the country which they occupied.  In a cave temple built in Bagan area is a stone tablet bearing a date equivalent to AD 1190.  It is one of the first known references to 'Myanmar'.  In contrast, the name 'Bamar' did not appear during this and subsequent periods.  The first reference to Bamar was only found in artifacts and buildings dating from the KONBAUNG Period (18th and 19th centuries).  Moreover, it is quite interesting to know that China since her ancient times has been referring to Myanmar as 'Myan-Tin' in Chinese language.  It never referred to Myanmar as 'Burma-Tin' or 'Bur-Tin' as the British Colonial Administration had re-named it.

A few years ago in Yangon there was an interview between the media people and some of the leaders of the ethnic races (former insurgent groups) and this question of name-change was raised by some of the media people.  The ethnic leaders' response was that they now feel they are nor left out but being equally given a national identity under the name Myanmar.  Of course, the ethnic group still opposing the Myanmar Government ironically will say things different because they have aligned themselves with the political party which refuses to recognize the country by its original name.

The party (National League for Democracy) stated that the name-change is not a priority and it has to be done with a vote.  It is quite amazing for someone to say such a thing since national unity is and always would be a top priority in any country in the world.  Realistically, did the British Colonial Administration implement the name-change under a vote when they changed the original name to Burma?  Definitely if Myanmar's national leader General Aung San was not assassinated in 1947 before Myanmar regained her independence, the national leaders would at that time, reinstate the original names being phonetically wrong and nationalistically and historically misrepresented.

Anyhow, since the United Nations has recognized Myanmar by her original name, it is the obligation of all the U.N. member countries to accept it, whether they approve it or not.  If the situation has been reversed certainly these same nations will be urging the United Nations Security Council (UNSC) to impost sanctions and embargoes on countries not recognizing and implementing the U.N. resolution or mandate.